Falling Down and Getting Up II : Black Rose
by paranoia'SPLASH
Summary: Sequel to Falling Down & Getting Up. Marie is now Bella to the Cullens and is trying to win Edward back. Of course, nothing is complete without a certain girl named Lauren poking her nose around, but when girl number 3 comes in, everyone's ready to blow.
1. Prologue

I could see her very clearly. Two girls, both on opposite sides. One brunette, another blonde. One a naïve student, another an intelligent bimbo. But ultimately, I was the winner. I would win this game of love. Triangle love nature never meant it to be, but three in love it would be. Blondie didn't count, she never loved him. He was just a trophy to her. He was my love.

Isabella was another thing. She loved him, but I didn't know if he loved her or considered her scum. Either way three it was and three it would be.

I smiled at the brunette walking in front of me, hips swaying, hair swinging. A natural beauty. Of course, the most natural ones didn't even realize the extent of their beauty, which only made Isabella an idiot and a disposable pawn. The bimbo was the one I needed to get rid of, her desperation for a trophy boyfriend was grating on my nerves.

She didn't know me yet, but I knew her. That gave me an advantage, though it wouldn't be needed much in _this _game. Somehow I suspected Edward knew all of this, or at least guessed there was something brewing behind the already-violent storm. Hah. Students of Forks High were going to see a much deeper game going on.

If Edward knew all of this, it would change the scenario completely. It wouldn't be a game of love. It would be _his _game. He would be the one controlling the strings, the puppeteer, the Pied Piper. And though I loved him deeply, I was the puppeteer. It would not do to have him controlling the strings behind the system. It would wreck my plan.

So which would it be, Isabella? A game of love, or a lover's game?


	2. Please Don't Freak Out On Me

**So guys, gals and any vampires/werewolves that might happen to stop by! If you've read Falling Down and Getting Up 1, good for you. You know where this story starts from. If you haven't, go back! Rewind! Click on my name and scroll to my stories list and READ Falling Down and Getting Up 1 NOW! Resistance is futile. Okay, actually, you can go ahead and be stubborn if you want, but then you'll completely lose the plot of this story. Anyway, this chapter takes place two days after the epilogue of FD&GU 1, so take note of the timeline. A few notes: It is Wednesday, I will be keeping track of the time better, and new characters will be introduced as hinted from the prologue. So enjoy!**

_Please Don't Freak Out On Me_

_Wednesday_

A new week, a new crime committed. I couldn't understand why students of Forks were so…_starved _for fresh gossip. Everyone was gossiping about me and Edward, and of course, the fact that Jacob and I weren't speaking either merely added fuel to fire. Honestly, I felt like screaming. I wanted to tell everyone to just get a life. To stop pestering me and leave me alone. Was that so hard?

I headed into gym a couple minutes late. Charlie had informed the teacher of my disability to play dodgeball and convinced him that the class would be better off without me, and had even shown him a photo of Clarissa, a girl in Phoenix whom I had injured while playing dodgeball. I had sworn off any ball games after that.

I sauntered over to the bleachers, trying to avoid the gaze of one Alice Cullen, who had convienently transferred into this class today on account of her blowing her top at one of the teachers who had insulted her while acting out a scene from _Romeo and Juliet_ by saying that Alice was too short to play Juliet. The teacher was currently in hospital nursing a broken finger and two fractured thumbs while Alice had got off scot-free.

As much as I hated to admit this, I was really impressed. Nobody but Alice could manage that.

Alice's eyes were following me throughout the whole period. It was unnerving, partly because having someone stare at you is never a soothing experience, and partly because I knew _why _she was staring at me. No doubt Edward had filled them in on the episodes of my drama. They had probably stayed up gossiping about me and my incredibly talented lying abilities. Yeah, as if.

Finally after class I had enough. I strode up to Alice, clutching my books so tightly that my knuckled turned white. "Would you mind not staring at me, it's kind of creepy," I said matter-of-factly. Alice barely batted an eyelid. Damn that girl. She was way too calm to be human.

Alice just gazed up at me with these clear eyes the colour of hazel. It was a surreal moment, almost as if she was looking through my soul, penetrating in it. It filled my veins with ice water.

Then she shook her head slowly and walked off, tightening her grip on her duffel bag, as if I had failed some test she had set me. I was left standing in the empty bleachers looking after her.

xXx

The whole day, I felt as if people were staring at me. Gossiping, whispering behind my back. I said hi to a junior I knew vaguely and she turned away from me like I had the plague.

What was wrong with everyone? The whispering and everything was irritating. It wasn't like I had ditched Prince William or someone like that. It was Edward Cullen, for crying out loud, and add that to the fact that _he _left _me…_ though that might not necessarily be a good thing, it would just be screaming for more attention.

I sighed, pausing before I stepped into the cafeteria. It was probably writhing with gossip-depraved students looking to take someone's private life and bash it to pieces. _I can handle this, _I told myself. _I've managed to get by without Edward for ten years, I can do it again. _

Too bad I've never been a good liar, especially to myself.

A few girls glanced at me curiously as I paused outside the big double doors to enter the cafeteria; I had deliberately avoided the other entrance since it was used more on account of it being directly outside buildings 3 and 4. This entrance was less populated.

I took a deep breath and entered the cafeteria.

I almost did an about-face and walked right out.

The moment I stepped foot in the cafeteria, everyone _stopped talking. _Honestly. The roar of voices which was close to deafening immediately quietened to a dead silence. I felt like I was the villian in a bad, made-for-tv movie where everyone stops talking when the bad guy enters some high-class casino for a meeting.

And it wasn't a pleasant feeling, either.

So instead of walking towards my usual table, where Jessica was sitting at smirking at me, I walked over to an empty table at the darkest end of the cafeteria, where a light had blown a fuse. It helped that the Cullens were directly across the room from me.

Slowly the volume in the cafeteria returned to its normal volume. I began to feel more normal. I would probably feel completely fine if not for the occasional furtive glances stolen at me.

I heard a chair scrape near me. I looked up to see Angela sitting down next to me, a long beaded necklace brushing her tray as she smiled at me. Ben Cheney was on her other side, grinning at me. The grin comforted me.

Slowly people began to surround me. Mike sat down next to me, Eric and Tyler opposite me. All of them offered smiles of sympathy. "We're still here for you," Eric offered. I could only manage a smile through the lump in my throat. They had no idea how much they meant to me right now.

Through the haze of sudden tears I saw a blonde figure enter the cafeteria. I saw Edward at her side, his bronze hair and green eyes unmistakable from this point. They were holding hands. Lauren reached up to purr something into his ear.

The lump in my throat grew bigger. It was constricting my throat.

Angela put her hand on my arm. "It's okay," she said soothingly. "We're here for you."

"Yeah, please, please don't freak out on us," Tyler added. That earned a round of laughs from our little group. I smiled around at them, the tears vanishing.

It was good to have them.


	3. Edward's Explanation

**Call me stupid, but I really didn't expect 18 reviews for the first two chapters alone, and one was just a prologue. Keep reviewing, aight? I'm aiming for 100 reviews by chapter 10 or so…though that might be kind of farfetched. But anyway, this story is mostly about friendship and comfort, thus explaining my choice of genres. But don't worry, Edward and romance will still be involved. **

**Chapter inspired by Nobody's Home by Avril Lavigne. **

_What's wrong, what's wrong now?  
Too many, too many problems.  
Don't know where she belongs, where she belongs._

She wants to go home, but nobody's home.  
That's where she lies, broken inside._**  
**__With no place to go, no place to go to dry her eyes.  
Broken inside._

_**Open your eyes and look outside, find the reasons why.  
You've been rejected, and now you can't find what you left behind.**_

**xXx**

_Eddie's Explanation_

_Thursday_

It was slightly easier to return to school on Thursday, knowing that my friends were there to help me and stay with me no matter what.

Slightly.

It was still hard, tormenting, to know that the moment I entered the school I would see Edward and Lauren, walking together whispering sweet nothings so unlike the conversations he and I would have regarding the school cafeteria or teachers. I couldn't believe Edward would have moved on that easily; especially to _Lauren_. He had made clear his distaste for Lauren several times.

But then that was no surprise, was it? It only showed how much I meant to Edward, how well I had thought I knew him. He wasn't a player though, as what Tyler had called him. Edward could and never would be a player. He hated those kind of boys, that at least I was sure of.

Though with everything going on lately, who knew? He could don a frilly tutu and sing 'Copacabana' and I wouldn't be surprised.

The whispers and glances were considerably muted now. As I walked into school it became obvious why.

**(AN: okay, so this description is a figment of my imagination, so don't get confused. I made this up.)**

The main corridor in school was basically a short pathway flanked by two miniature open grass fields on either side. In front of the corridor was Building 2, behind Building 4. If I faced Building 4 and really squinted, I could see all the way to the office.

The corridor was protected from rain by an overhanging porch-like roof, almost like a sunroof only without the windows. There was a huge white wall facing me right now, which was basically the backside of Building 2.

This wall was the cause of commotion.

For the usually peeling off-white wall was covered with a _huge _blown-up picture of Lauren and what looked like Mike's wiry body and Tyler's face superimposed on it making out.

The minute I saw the picture I cracked up laughing.

It was unbelievable. Either Tyler had been making out with Lauren or Mike had, and I doubted it was Tyler Crowley. His girlfriend, Gina, was drop-dead gorgeous and would skin him alive if she ever _suspected _Tyler was being unfaithful.

I strolled into class early, laughing to myself. Mike was already sitting in his spot, looking embarrassed. There were little spots of colour on his cheeks. I hoisted myself up on the bench, smirking at him. I hadn't even said a thing when Mike exploded, like St Helen's on a rampage.

"I did not do that. I would never, never make out with Lauren or do anything equivalent to even touching that…that _plastic. _She's a nerd in diguise, that's what she is. A nerd covered with plastic and makeup," he burst out.

All this was said in a flurry, so what I heard was, "IdidnotdothatIwouldnevernevermakeoutwithLaurenordoanythingequivalenttoeventouchingthat thatplasticshe'sanerdindisguisethat'swhatsheisanerdcoveredwithplasticandmakeup."

I cracked up laughing again. "Mike, calm down. Nobody's going to accuse you of anything. I think everyone's going to be more interested in the Lauren side of things, considering she was going out with Mark at that point of time," I added. Mike sighed, visibly relieved. Then he cocked his head again.

"What was-"

"I can't believe you would do that!" A scream, then a loud slam that sounded like someone throwing ten or possibly twenty books on the floor. "I thought you loved me! How could you accuse me of doing that?"

I inched towards the door, peeping out. Mike joined me, peering around the corner. Several students were frozen in the middle of their way to class, watching the drama that was unfolding before us.

"Lauren," Edward said, quietly, silently. Lauren ignored him, throwing herself against his chest.

"Lauren!" Edward shouted. "Don't pretend I don't know! I know everything, okay? So just keep your mouth shut and stop being such a hypocrite!"

He looked around then, as if suddenly aware that he had an audience. Everything snapped back to reality then. Everyone began hurrying towards their classes, encouraged by the black look on Edward's face that promsied a slow death.

He continued talking in a lower yet more threatening voice. "I'm only staying with you because you need the money I have for your father's operation. And you're staying with me because you want me as a trophy. If you want to act like a complete bitch, then fine, but just to let you know, if the school starts gossiping about us, you're out of the door. I'm sacrificing a lot to be here and I will not tolerate any crap from you."

My eyes widened, as did Mike's. So that was why he was staying on with Lauren. Her father was Edward's mentor. Her father had once helped the Cullens out of a sticky situation where a family had accused them of defamation, and Edward never forgot it. That was why he couldn't bear to leave her father in the lurch right now. And Lauren was taking advantage of it, I thought, disgusted.

Lauren wasn't one to be lectured, though. Stepping right up to Edward, she seized his shoulders and dug her long, perfectly-manicured nails into his shoulderblades. Edward winced. "Let me get this straight, Cullen," she hissed. "As long as you want to help out dearest daddy, you _will _stay with me and put up with anything I tell you to do, or I botch the whole surgery. Is that clear?"

Edward stepped backwards. The hall was empty now, but several students were peeking out of their classroom doors. Five people were crowded behind me alone.

"Fine," Edward snarled, simply, angrily. He turned and stalked off. Lauren smiled, flipping her hair back, unfazed by the intensity of Edward's fury. She turned to face me. We made eye contact for two seconds before she moved off in the opposite direction that Edward had went. I knew what her little smile meant, though. It was meant for _me_. It was an invitation. An invitation for me to fight with her for Edward. _Too bad Edward doesn't want me to fight anymore, _I thought grimly. I turned around and saw Mike staring at me.

Mr Berty waltzed in, ten minutes late, a flurry of profuse aplogies streaming from his mouth. I only caught the words _carried away _and _janitor's closet_ and saw the blush on his face before deciding it was best not to know. On my way to my seat I looked at Mike.

"Neither of us saw that, right?"

Mike nodded, his face pale. "Right."


	4. What He Has

**Chapter 3, hot and served! I expect this chapter to explain about the saga between Lauren's family and the Cullens. Other questions not answered here will be answered in next chapter, unless, of course, you ask how things will turn out between Edward and Bella, because that only Alice can answer, because I sure ain't answering that. Cheers and enjoy. :D**

_Where Things Stand_

_Friday_

I was really very thankful that Friday was finally here; two days of no school and most importantly, nobody to talk to, was looming and I was looking forward to it. I needed some peace and quiet. Last night had been spent tossing and turning in my bed puzzling over the conversation Edward and Lauren had had, and when I had finally drifted to sleep my dreams were tainted with the images of Edward, Lauren, and Lauren's father. It was beyond irritating.

Lauren's father, David-he insisted on being called by his first name-was a tall, wiry man in his thirties. He didn't seem the kind to get infected with any kind of disease, especially not one that would require an operation. He was incredibly fit; he went jogging every few days and worked at the hospital as a doctor. He worked the graveyard shift though, so I hardly ever saw him except for the rare times when I bumped into him at the grocery store or Mike's shop, where he usually bought hiking boots on account of his old ones always ending up in tatters after his dog found them.

I could see how Edward felt like he owed the man though. When we were five, a woman hiker had accused Carlisle of outraging her modesty. At that time I hadn't known what that meant, but eventually I found out that the woman, who was passing by Forks on her way to Tacoma, had appearently stopped at the hospital for a nasty sprain and Carlisle had supposedly sexually harassed her.

It was an stupid accusation. Of course the woman wouldn't have known that Carlisle was one of the most respected citizens of Forks, but in those hazy days where a serial killer had just been caught in Seattle, nobody was sure of anything, so nobody spoke up for him. Esme had tried defending him, but since she was his wife nobody believed her either until David spoke up.

He had gone to the police station and found Charlie there and reported that he had been in the same ward visiting his wife, who had landed herself in hospital for some infection. According to him, Carlisle had not harrassed the woman but rather it was her that had harrassed him. When she discovered he had a wife she flipped out and wanting revenge decided to file a fake report.

The woman tried to back down after that, but obviously after charges had been pressed the police weren't going to let go that easily. Luckily Carlisle had told the police to drop all charges against the woman, which incidentally included defamation, and she had left Forks mortified at her choice of victims.

Edward had been the most affected. Although we were too young to fully realize the severity of the situation, Edward stayed home more often that the others. Rosalie, Emmett and Rosalie were busy with school so they at least were more preoccupied. Alice had been down with a fever and was recovering, so she wasn't as aware as Edward.

Edward on the other hand knew everything and was disturbed by how moody Esme was. Esme and Carlisle had cooped up together in the library for hours then, which was so uncharacteristic of them that Edward had been really affected. He was forever grateful to David for helping Carlisle out then.

Which was why it was so like him to feel that he had to help out David on behalf of Carlisle. From the sounds of their brief conversation, it sounded like Lauren wasn't allowing Edward to help her dad unless he got together with her. Edward was desperate enough that he was willing to succumb to anything to help out David. The Cullens were rich enough that they had lots to spare, and Edward obviously felt this was the right thing to do.

Which brought me back to the main question. What was wrong with David?

"Bella! Hurry up, you'll be late for school!" Charlie yelled from downstairs. I hopped out the bathroom where I had been musing in, trying to put on my sneakers while climbing down the stairs. A very stupid mistake on my part, I might add. Of course I tripped at the last minute and flew past the last three steps and tumbled into a heap on the floor. I hopped up before Charlie could ask if I was okay. He stared at me for a moment and burst out laughing.

"Fine, laugh at me, why don't you?" I muttered.

"Sorry…Bells…too…funny," Charlie gasped. I rolled my eyes, pulling on my sneaker properly and managing not to trip at the same time before remembering what I had been thinking about.

"Oh! Dad, do you happen to know what's wrong with Lauren's father? There are…um, rumors in school that he needs an operation," I fibbed quickly, pretending to adjust my sneaker to hide the blush for the lie.

"You mean David?" I nodded. "Oh, that's right, he needs an operation. I think he has pancreatic cancer. That strain of cancer is one of the most fatal ones though. I doubt David has a chance of making it through. Less than five percent live five years after being diagnosed, and I think David only just discovered he had cancer last month. It turned out that he had had cancer for a few years but never seeked medical advice. He just returned from an overseas trip to Europe to consult a professional while he was visiting his sister. Luckily his sister said he should visit a doctor or it would go unnoticed for even longer."

I gasped softly. Pancreatic cancer? No wonder Edward was so worried. David didn't deserve something like this. "But why would he need a professional? He's a doctor, isn't he?"

Charlie smiled. "But only a general doctor. This isn't his field. He didn't know his symptoms were of cancer. He thought it was his old age. David's terrified of aging, you know." Charlie paused. "The professional he saw managed to give him a rough estimate of how long he had to live."

"How long?" I asked, driven by morbid curiosity. Ridiculous. I had a sinking feeling he didn't have much time.

Charlie hesitated. "Three months."

**xXx**

"Oh no…" Angela breathed. "That would be horrible. Poor David…"

It was lunch again. I had told only Angela and Mike about what I had found out. Mike because he deserved to know on account of him not ratting me out to Edward, and Angela because I needed somebody to talk to that wouldn't be clouded by the impression that cancer was cool and deserved attention.

"Isn't it? I mean, we all remember what happened when we were five…"

Angela nodded. "He doesn't deserve this. No wonder Edward wanted to help. The Cullens are the only family with the money to help him out. But isn't pancreatic cancer very fatal?"

I nodded, reciting what Charlie had told me. "Less than five percent make it up to five years. The doctor he consulted gave him three months."

"Three months?!" Angela gasped. "But that's so unfair!"

"Tell me about it." I sighed. "That's why Edward's splashing out on all the fancy procedures. It probably won't work out, but Edward's not letting one iota of chance slip by."

Angela was impressed. "Wow. That's so kind of Edward."

"Yeah," I agreed. "He feels like he owes David for the last time."

Angela nodded thoughtfully, chewing on a slice of over-cooked pizza. She cringed at the taste but kept eating regardless. "And Lauren doesn't care…she must be even colder than I thought."

"She always has been," I said bitterly. Lauren. Hah. Her own father had three months to live and it was Edward that was helping out. Some daughter.


	5. Where Things Stand

**Thanks so much for the reviews! Appreciate it truckloads. :D And to Loveyoumitchhh3, I love it that you like my story and your boyfriend considers my story important enough to recommend it to you. Tell him thanks for me too, yeah? And to all those other reviewers, especially caww, Elven at Heart, and luffin edward-bella 4eva. You guys have been there the whole way, ESPECIALLY caww! Thanks so much!**

_Where Things Stand_

_Monday_

Time really flies by, doesn't it? It seemed like yesterday that I was just celebrating the arrival of the weekend and now it's Monday morning and time to get ready for school. Sometimes I hated the person who implemented the five-day schooling two-day off timetable. He had to make it a five-day working week.

I had no problem with the work. It was the people I dreaded seeing.

I sighed, walking out of the bathroom, toweling my hair. I slipped on the slippery floor from the moisture dripping from my feet. I had taken a cold shower this morning to hopefully jerk me awake; I was far too dazed these days. I was precariously close to that edge in my mind. The only thing clutching me back were my friends.

And also the fact that I knew some part of Edward had forgiven me.

After all, he hadn't really moved on that quick, had he? When he wasn't with Lauren, he was standing by himself, looking depressed, until Emmett or someone dragged him off. I hated to admit this, but a part of me felt really glad for it.

I sighed deeply, closing my eyes and letting the darkness envelop for a while. Then I opened my eyes again. The brightly colored lights that danced in front of my eyelids would give me sore eyes.

Charlie had left before me. I was running a little late, but not too late. I grabbed a granola bar and drank milk straight from the carton, a bad habit I resolved never to do again, before running out of the house.

xXx

I arrived at school a few minutes early due to having pushed the engine a little too far. By the time I had slid my truck into a parking lot the engine was literally whining and groaning. Little puffs of steam were coming out from the weirdest places. I sighed again. I doubted my truck would make it on my way home after school.

"Wow, that looks bad," said a voice behind me, echoing my thoughts.

I whirled around to see Mike grinning at me, arms across his chest. I grinned back. "Yeah, I figured," I answered. "I wonder if I can even make it home."

Mike frowned. "You shouldn't try it," he advised. "Not that I'm a professional or anything, but I think your truck might collapse halfway."

I nodded. I had guessed as much. "I'll see if the engine is okay after school," I said. "After it has time to cool down," I added then with a quick glance at the still-smoking engine. Mike laughed and we fell into step to class together.

I was painfully aware of how close Mike walked to me. A little too close, perhaps. His shirt sleeve was brushing my arm. If I moved my right hand a few millimeters I would collide into his thigh…uh oh. Surely Mike couldn't think something was going on between us.

Great. That was it. He had given me a week of space and now he was moving in. Zeroing in on the target. Ugh. This felt like first day of school all over again! Now all I needed was for Tyler to appear and…

Crap. I would now believe in karma. Tyler appeared from nowhere and materialised at my other side. Mike scowled at him. "Tyler," he began, very sweetly. "Don't you have somewhere to be? Like making out with your _girlfriend_?" He put extra emphasis on _girlfriend. _

Tyler smiled back just as sweetly. "I don't know where you get your information, Mike, but I don't have a girlfriend," he replied. Mike narrowed his eyes. I rolled mine.

Mike began speaking very dangerously. Both of them were so caught up bickering they didn't notice when I slipped into a random classroom. I leaned against the wall and sighed deeply.

Things weren't going to change. How many times had I told myself this, over and over again? Edward was out of my life now. I had to deal with it. That was life. Be and let be.

I heard the bell screech. Footsteps pounded. I slipped out of the classeroom before the teacher could come in.

Everything happened very quickly then.

Four teachers came running around the corner. They were all clutching a bright orange collapsible stretcher. I caught a glimpse of Rosalie's all-too-familiar blonde hair and toned, tanned legs, recognizable even sheathed in jeans. Edward was running alongside the stretcher, his face pale and drawn. Alice, next to Edward, screaming uncontrollably and crying her heart out. Lauren was behind them, her face pinched and shocked. Jasper and Emmett brought up the rear, their faces hard and yet pale.

The siren of ambulances wailed, faintly at first, but getting louder to the point it was deafeaning. It screamed continously, a violent background to the chaos I saw.

I only caught a few words. "Fainted…in cardiac arrest…shock…bank folded…chances not good…cancer…"

And then a whole sentence: "It must be double bad luck for the Cullens."

My mind only thought two thing, over and over again. First, someone close to the Cullens had had an heart attack. Second, someone that had cancer was in trouble. And the only person I knew with any form of cancer, and would be the reason Lauren looked so shocked, was David.

No. David. Poor, sweet David. David, who had not just been a friend to the Cullens but to me as well. He had been a friend and mentor to me. And who was the unknown person? The one who had had a heart attack?

As the ominously neon stretcher careened past me, I swayed dizzily and collaspsed onto the floor in a tangle of folded limbs.

Everything went black.

**Cliffie! Sorry, but I couldn't resist. R&R!**


	6. Code Blue

**Oh, wow. I was comparing these reviews to my other story, and I was like, wow. You guys really rock for reviewing so much! And yeah, I suppose you guys are kinda pissed at me for leaving it with a cliffie, but it was one of those chapters DYING for a cliffhanger there! To answer your question, yes, it was Rosalie on the stretcher. And in this chapter you'll find out why. And just to warn you. This chapter will also end with a cliffie, mostly because I'm too exhausted to continue. And if I did, it would probably last over twenty pages to elaborate properly. So if you're not up for a cliffie, wait for the next update.**

_Tuesday_

_Code Blue_

It felt like seconds. One second I was watching several people run towards the exit, hearing the squeal of sneakers on the floor, the next everything was black, and the third second I was suddenly aware of foreign smells around me. The smell of antiseptic and sterile paint touched my nose. I had a strange feeling that somebody was watching me.

I hesitated a few seconds before opening my eyes. It was harder to lift my eyelids that it should me, as if the muscles were weak. Everything swirled dizzily in and out before slowly coming into focus again.

I heard a few audibly relieved sighs. A familiar voice muttered, "Thank God." I had to struggle for a few seconds before recognition hit.

"Emmett?" I croaked, my voice a high-pitched whisper. "Alice…Jasper? What're you guys…" I closed my eyes a moment to clear the confusion swirling in my head. "What happened?"

Alice choked a little, her eyes red-rimmed and her nose a bright pink. She had obviously been crying her heart out. I felt a little stab of sadness in return. My emotions were always directly proportionate to the Cullens. "Esme had a heart attack!" she wailed.

The heart moniter attached to me skipped dangerously. I was hyperventilating.

"WHAT?!" I shrieked.

Emmett was frantic now, his eyes darting to the heart monitor, which was skipping around like nobody's business. "Shh, shh, Bella, calm down," he said, panicked, not even noticing when I flinched at his use of _Bella_. "Esme's going to be all right," he continued, though with a trace of doubt. "Carlisle's with her right now."

My heart slowly began to pound back to its normal beat, thudding out the rhythm gently. Jasper and Emmett sighed in obvious relief. "But…but why…how...why?" I spluttered. Esme? Cool, collected, sweet Esme getting a heart attack? How was that _possible? _

Emmett looked away, so Jasper answered me. I struggled to stay focused on his explanation. "Esme…read in the paper that her bank had folded. She had kept her life savings in that bank, which amounted to close to a million, so when it folded…it was quite a shock for her," he said, choking a bit at the end.

My heart, which had been thudding so steadily, began to climb.

"But it's okay, Bella! She's in perfect condition and she'll be fine!" Jasper added hastily. His words sounded more convincing than Emmett's.

But that couldn't be all. Surely it wouldn't wrap up so nicely just like that, without any loose ends to tie… "What about Rosalie?" I asked, swallowing a lump in my throat. "Will she be fine?"

Emmett's eyes darkened. "She's still unconscious," he said, his voice wavering. "But Carlisle says she'll probably be fine, it was just the shock from earlier."

Alice leaned over to peer at me. "Are _you_ okay?" she sniffled, her beautiful voice choked with tears. I stared at her one long moment before throwing my arms around her neck and hugging her tightly. Tears were flowing unchecked down my cheeks down.

"Oh, Alice!" I wailed. "I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry I didn't tell you! You know I would've if I honestly thought I could!"

Alice hesitated before clasping me closely. "Of course I forgive you Bella! I never held it against you in the first place! It was all Edward!"

We were both crying then, the salt tears running and mingling. I heard a small sniff before turning and seeing Emmett's suspiciously watery eyes. "Emmett!" I wailed, grabbing him and hugging him tightly. The tears started again then as Alice and Jasper hugged us both. It was one huge hugging, crying fest.

When we finally released each other, everyone was tearing. Even tough, nothing-can-faze-me, joker Emmett was crying. "Oh my God, Emmett, I missed you," I sniffed, wiping at my eyes and catching sight of the IV strapped to my hand but not, mysteriously, to my nose. I lifted my left hand to rip it off.

"Oh, no you don't," Emmett said, chuckling, catching my hand. "And I missed you too, Bella, honey. You have no idea," he added, hugging me again so tightly I felt my ribs would burst.

I smiled a tiny smile, which faded as I suddenly remembered Mike and Tyler and school…holy crow, what time _was _it?!

I craned my head to catch a glimpse of the white clock ticking away. Nine. I sighed a little sigh of relief. That wasn't too bad. I could still go back to school.

Emmett, always knowing me so well, cleared his throat. "Actually, Bells, it's, ah, nine in the morning..."

I nodded vigorously. "Yes! That's good! I can still go back to school!" I said, wondering why Emmett hadn't seen it yet.

Apparently, he had. He laughed loudly, as did Alice and Jasper. "Bells, it's _Tuesday._ You hit your head against the doorframe when you fainted, and it was bleeding pretty bad. Carlisle insisted on keeping you here to stitch it up but some stupid hospital regulation said that the patient had to be conscious to be stitched so he just bandaged it and hoped you would come to ASAP."

Jasper snickered. "I really pity the guy. He only just recovered from the shock of hearing about Esme when he finds out _you _fainted. He almost had a heart attack himself."

"Ah, that's just Carlisle," I said, smiling. The casual manner in which he referred to Esme's accident was reassuring. Surely he couldn't be so offhand if it was serious. I paused. "Surely you guys should be with Esme?" I demanded, panic rising in my throat. "What are you doing here? Get out! Shoo!"

Alice giggled. "Relax, Bellsie," she said, soundig extraordinarily like Emmett. She rolled her eyes. "Hospital regulations said that only three visitors are allowed per patient at any point of time," she said, the sarcasm oozing, "and Esme's surrounded by her Gardening Club friends. We already visited her earlier. She was getting sleepy anyway."

That didn't help any. "What about Rose? Shouldn't you be with her?" I directed my question to Emmett. Jasper laughed.

"Don't remind him," he teased, glancing at Emmett's thunderous expression. "Yesterday after we had visited you we went to see Rose and we found a huge gang of guys we had never seen before. Rose was terrified and Emmett was screaming bloody murder at them. Needless to say they ran out of there like rabbits."

I started laughing at the weird image of a bunch of hormonal teenage boys scampering out of the room with Emmett screaming after them. It was too funny. The best part was, the whole thing was probably very true. Emmett was fiercely protective of Rosalie.

"You'd think they would get the idea that I'm not going to let Rosie go by now," Emmett was growling. Alice laughed, poking his side.

"Of course they will," she giggled. "Once you stop teasing Rose so much they think she's your best friend instead of your girlfriend."

"Hey!" Emmett protested. "Rosie is my girlfriend. Bellsie here is my best friend."

"And what am I?" Jasper demanded.

Emmett took one look at him and started sniggering. Jasper whacked his head.

I didn't join in the light camaraderie. I was occupied. The memories of, well, yesterday morning was flooding back. I lifted one hand and gingerly felt the back of my head, which was wrapped in stiff gauze. I could feel the crusted dried blood inside and the wetness still trickling out. Rosalie had been on a stretcher…Esme had had an cardiac arrest…but what was that third thing?

"_It must be double bad luck for the Cullens."_

The heart monitor sped up again, thudding out the rhythm of my heart in short, staccato beeps. Emmett stopped making loud jokes to stare at me for a second before grabbing my shoulders. Alice stared at me wide-eyed. "Bella. Bella, relax. What's wrong? Relax, Bells!" Alice said frantically, almost hysterically. The heart monitor kept beeping quickly.

"David?" I managed to choke out between gasps for air. My lungs were burning. Emmett and Jasper took one look at each other before Jasper ran out of the room, presumably to fetch a doctor that could calm me down.

"He's okay, Bells! He's fine. He's just in the same ward as Esme right now. They had a pretty good discussion about us, if you must know," Emmett said quickly. The beeping slowed down.

"He's right, Bella," Alice agreed. "He's okay. He'll recover from the relapse in no-"

Jasper burst into the room, stumbling over his feet in his haste, his eyes wide and face pale. Behind him two doctors sprinted down the hall, their startlingly white coats flying out behind them. One of them was shrieking something muffled by the thick walls. An alarm above the door had gone off, the light flashing.

"Jasper? What's going on?" I asked quietly.

He looked at me, then at Alice and Emmett. "It's David. His heart stopped beating."

We froze. Then I ripped off the numerous wires connected to me, not caring what fluid they were pumping into my body, and flung open the door. I took off down the hall, Alice, Emmett and Jasper right behind me.

_Please be okay, David, _I prayed silently. _For the Cullens. For Edward._


	7. Houston, We Have A Problem

**Review loads, guys! I'm seriously getting addicted to this story. New ideas just keep coming…and I have tons of ideas for new stories. Best part is, school's starting tomorrow after a one-week break-which is actually why I've been updating so fast. And a special shoutout to all you readers out there. Do go to my profile and read my latest story, Playgirl Meets Womanizer, which is AH and I promise will give you two completely different styles of writing for both Edward and Bella. **

_Tuesday_

_Houston, We Have A Problem_

I was getting woozy. Ripping out tubes pumping fluids desired by my body wasn't such a smart move for me. I touched the bandage at the back of my head, coated with dried blood. Tiny flakes of it came off when I touched it. It was disgusting and it smelled of Dettol. Gross.

I really did not need to trip and cause a catastrophy in the hospital where one patient is frantically being revived, another is recovering from a heart attack, a third just regained consciousness and a fourth just fell and hit her head for the second time in two days. Carlisle would have a fit.

Emmett had already caught me thrice and Jasper twice as I tripped and stumbled my way to Ward A, bed 92 **(AN: I don't really know what the hospital system is like, unlike Bella I always refused to go to a hospital when I get injured)**. If the situation hadn't been so serious Emmett would probably have burst out laughing. As it was the corner of Emmett's mouth was twitching.

Alice was tearing up again. It was wrong. Alice was always so chipper and lively. Seeing her break down should be illegal. I slowed down and took her hand. She smiled at me gratefully, sniffing daintily. Trust Alice to make every movement, no matter how unladylike, seem elegant and petite.

We burst into the ward only to find an empty bed with the plaque '92' over it. The blankets were made neatly and the pillows smooth. We froze. Jasper hit his head and groaned.

"Emergency room! They'd be in the ER!" he yelled, frustrated, and we took off again, Jasper cursing under his breath at his stupidity the whole time until Emmett told him to stuff it and that there were more serious issues at hand.

But then of course we weren't allowed inside the ER, so we went to the waiting room which was more of a torture chamber. We just stood outside the room where they were doing some sort of surgery or another on David. At least the AED had managed to start his heart pumping again.

When we stepped into the hot, stuffy waiting area, my heart gave a jolt. Edward was sitting on a foldable metal chair, his face buried in his hands. I frowned. Where was Lauren? It was her father undergoing a major operation, wasn't it?

Edward didn't look up when we entered. Alice's sobs were hint enough. "Is…will he be okay?" Alice asked, her voice wavering.

"They said it might not be okay. Carlisle said there's a ninety percent chance he…he'll die." Edward's voice cracked at the end. I felt a tiny stab of pain in return.

He looked so vulnerable. He looked seven years old again.

The door joined to the operating room opened then, sending a gush of stagnant air tinted with the smell of blood. The scent was strong. I felt my head spin.

I saw Carlisle leave the room, his face set in a grim mask before turning to surprise and fury when he saw me. I paused. Why was _he_ angry at me?

"Isabella Marie Swan!" he bellowed, his voice echoing off the tiny room walls. I saw Edward's head snap up. His eyes bore into mine. Carlisle ranted on. "What are you doing out of bed?! Your head is still bleeding and I still need to give you stitches! And of all places what are you doing _here_, with lots of _blood?! Emmett Cullen!" _he turned to yell at Emmett. "Why did you let her come? You know how she gets around blood!"

"Oh, crap," Emmett cursed. "Sorry Carlisle, I forgot," he apologized. Emmett sprinted to me, holding my waist tightly. I swayed. "Bellsie? You okay?"

"Close the door," I muttered weakly. Carlisle slammed the door shut, cutting off the tainted air immediately. I slowly felt my legs return to me. "Thank you," I mumbled, leaning against Emmett.

"Edward, Esme raised you to realize chivalry is not dead. Give Bella the chair. Emmett, Alice, Jasper, I need to speak to you." Carlisle left the room, followed by Alice and Jasper. Emmett released me slowly, and making sure I was okay, left.

Great. Now I was alone with Eddie dear.

Edward got up stiffly and moved across the room. I stumbled over to the metal chair, the pale walls swirling around me. It took a record two seconds before the floor rose to greet my face.

A pair of strong hands caught me around the waist just as the two friends were about to meet. I sighed in relief. Chivalry really wasn't dead yet. Though the sense of male friendliness wasn't quite present in the act. Edward lifted me up and set me on the chair abefore retreating to the furthest end of the room to sit and sulk at the corner. I grimaced, the pale walls still vibrating gently.

We sat like that for countless seconds staring at each other with unreadable emotions. Our attention was away from the drama taking place inside the operation room, though a small part of my mind took note of the muffled beeps from the heart monitor. The moment the beeping stopped, my attention would digress. For now, though, it was perfectly secure.

When the clock almost hit one full minute, Edward spoke, his husky, silky voice raspy from stress. Somehow it made him seem even sexier than usual. Maybe because now he was more of a man than of a model. "Why didn't you tell me?"

I had to gather my wits before answering. "I couldn't," I said simply. "If I did, it would make things awkward."

"And it isn't awkward _now_? What were you thinking?" Edward half growled, half yelled. "Don't you ever _think_?!"

I swallowed back tears, not failing to realize that he had avoided using my name, alias or otherwise. He was staring at me, his face a cold, unreadable mask. I swallowed repeatedly.

"I-I'm sorry, Edward. I didn't realize," I whispered. "It was a spur-of-the-moment decision and I'm _sorry_, okay? I wasn't thinking! I know I'm a idiot but you don't exactly have to rub it in, you know!"

Somehow during this little rant my volume had rose to a deranged scream.

Edward kept staring at me, though now he looked a little shocked and strangely amused. I knew him well enough to be able to read his emotions like a book. "You really haven't changed. Crazy, screaming girl."

I sniffed. "You sound like Emmett," I said, miffed. Edward turned to hide a laugh.

Things weren't okay between us yet. I was convinced that it would take a lot more persuasion for all-rounded forgiveness. But then at least I knew we were getting somewhere. It was a lot better than thinking we were stuck in a rut.

Edward wasn't the type to hold a grudge, but he didn't forgive and forget easily, either. It would take some convincing to cool him down, and for a matter as huge as this, it would take many, many hours. Not to mention bucketfuls of tears and sweat. But I would make it up to him. I had to. There was no way I could be on good terms with all of the Cullens save Edward. Now _that _would really be an awkward situation.

Edward turned back to the window then. The medical team were doing something disgusting with the organs. I didn't have the guts, or the stomach, to watch. Apparently it was a stressful sight, though, because Edward started pacing the length of the stuffy room, stirring the air around and sending dust particles up my nose.

Finally I had enough and I got up, stormed over to him, grabbed his shoulders and pushed him against the wall and held him there till he stopped fidgeting. From the panic in his eyes I could tell he thought I was going to rape him or something.

"Good," I said finally. "Don't move. Stay there. It'll help better." Then I stalked back to the stool and plopped down on it, fanning myself with one hand. I thought I saw Edward smirk. The atmosphere was literally _buzzing _with the tension in the air. It was so dense I could probably cut through the tension with a knife. A butter knife at that.

Emmett slammed the door on his way in. The loud slam cut through the sexual tension buzzing around the room. He sighed, obviously relieved at something. "Great! I thought you two were murdering one another." Emmett raised an eyebrow.

"Don't be so immature," Edward and I said at the same time before turning to one another with eyebrows raised. Emmett snickered.

"Whatever," Edward muttered, slouching against the wall as Jasper, Alice and Rosalie entered the room.

I sagged on my seat. Yeah. Whatever.

**Sorry if the chapter is kinda boring, but I think this chapter was a necessary milestone in their love/hate relationship! So now they're one step closer to reconcilation, and the next chapter will have a lot of Lauren and some Jacob!**


	8. Don't Mess With The Bimbo

**Sorry for the slow updating guys, but school's started so I'll take a bit longer to update now! By the way, I'm thinking a little bit of Edward POV thrown in somewhere. What do you guys think? But anyway, Chapter 7, coming right up!**

_Don't Mess With The Bimbo_

_Wednesday_

School was school. Edward avoided me, Jacob avoided me, Lauren…well, let's just say she didn't precisely go out of her way to meet and greet me either. The only significant difference was that now Emmett, Jasper and Alice had taken to screaming out "Bella!" in the hallways and making everyone turn.

The whole school now knew the story-or the gist of it anyway. They knew that my name wasn't Marie, and they knew there was something going on between me and Edward, and they sure as heck knew I despised Lauren and the feeling was mutual. Well, it didn't exactly take a lot to despise Lauren. Everything about her screamed slut.

Take today for example. She was strutting around in school with this babydoll dress, I think it was called. It was red and sleeveless, and ended way too high above her knees. And did I mention it was _incredibly _low cut? I mean, who was she trying to kid? The dress would probably look classy on, oh, Rosalie, or Alice, but on her, it was just…not.

She got eyed up by quite a few teachers, but considering the dress wasn't _exactly _going against the dress code, they let it go.

Say what?!

So the dress code only forbade 'pieces of clothing that show more than 80% of the body', but that dress was _more _than 70%! It showed half her chest, for goodness' sake! Did the administration _want _her to get raped in the alleyways or something? Not saying that was a bad idea, of course, but still. One would think the teachers would do something about her.

Okay, I was jealous.

Lauren looked like a total slut, but she looked…not good, but okay. Me? I wore a simple jeans and slightly fancy shirt. I was dog poo compared to her.

Not saying I wanted to look like her, but still.

First period was English. Alas, the dreaded teacher with the sarcastic personality. Not to mention Edward, Jacob and Lauren, all rolled into one giant ball with me as the cat trying to bat it. They were all out to get me.

I sighed and entered class. My timing was excellent; Mr Berty scowled at me the moment I entered the room. A sweet, charming character, that one. I wondered if he was married. He had the personality of a cactus.

Edward wasn't there yet, thankfully. Jacob was, though, and he resentfully turned his back to me when I entered the room. I sighed. With Jacob sitting in front of me, Edward next to me, and skanky Lauren just across the aisle, I was tempted to just walk out of class.

Too bad I was raised not to ditch classes just because of some strange people.

I sighed and slumped over in my seat. English stank.

.xXx.

_Lauren_

I smiled down at my dress. It was pretty nice, if I do say so myself. It had better be nice. It was really expensive. I almost blew the limit of Mummy's credit card.

David was still in hospital. He was recuperating just fine, just as I knew he would. Of course he would. He was my father, he was a strong man. He would pull through. After all, I had to get my strong genes from somewhere and it sure wasn't from my wimpy mum. Heck, she was afraid of _needles. _What kind of spineless woman was afraid of needles? **(wink, wink, Bella)**

I sighed. School was boring, David was hopeless, my mum useless and lessons tedious. The only interesting thing in my day today would be bashing up Marie…or should I say, Bella dear.

Her scandal was fairly interesting. I never would've thought that she would have it in her, the spineless little worm. But she surpassed all expectations and she managed to deceive the Cullens, anger Edward and lose her only miserable friend, Jacob. When I suggested dating Marie behind Edward's back, I didn't precisely have this in mind.

But all's well that ends well. Marie/Bella's out of the way, Edward's mine and I'm popular and have a great reputation.

I entered class a minute late. Fantastic. My day just kept getting better and better. Marie was already in position, Jacob in front of her. Edward was strangely AWOL though…but never mind. He was only a pawn. He could enter in a different scene.

Jacob looked angry, stubborn, and Bella looked…well, Bella. A clueless naïve first-grader. She looked just a teeny bit frustrated though. Good. That meant she was trying to get through to Edward and was failing pathetically. Over the years I had gotten fairly good in reading motives.

"Jacob, hi," I said loudly and deliberately, sliding into the cold plastic seat. Jacob turned and gave me a brief smile before turning back. I frowned. That was precisely the response I wanted. Bella looked pained, though. Score.

"Where's Edward, anyway? Did he come down with the flu or something? I heard there's a virus going around," I continued. Bella sighed, shifting in her seat. I felt a faint twitch of annoyance.

"What's wrong, _Bella_? Got the cramps? Maybe you should see a doctor, you know. I heard it might be bad for your mental health," I said, my voice like melted honey. Bella looked at me, her eyebrows raised.

"Then you must've got it," she said, very pointedly. "Considering the crap you're spouting right now."

Jacob muffled a snort. I glared at his back. This wasn't turning out very well at all. Mr Berty turned to stare at us before shrugging and turning back to fiddle with the laptop on his desk. Huh. He must be in a good mood.

"Oh, really?" I asked sweetly. "Well, that's strange, since I'm still here and you're…not."

Bella appeared confused. Jacob too. I sighed mentally. They were so slow.

"You're pretty much invisible, aren't you? Invisible to your mother, to Edward, to Jacob. Nobody even notices you any more," I said, losing the faux sweetness completely.

Bella narrowed her eyes. "And that's bad because…?"

Jeez, this girl would be the death of me.

"_Edward,_" I stressed his name very deliberately, "couldn't give a damn if you jumped off a cliff. He wouldn't care if you drowned. But you're right. That isn't bad. It's fantastic…for me."

Bella stiffened and turned away. Jacob was facing the front now, his shoulders stiff. I smirked. Mr Berty chose that moment to come striding down the aisle, a thick manual in one hand and a fork in the other. The fork was coated with dust. I raised an eyebrow at it. He must've been trying to poke in the laptop with the fork.

"Is there a problem?" he asked politely. I jerked. Whoa. What was wrong with this guy?

"No," I said calmly. "We were just discussing matters."

Mr Berty nodded and turned away before whirling back and slamming the manual on my desk. Dust balls flew out from it. "Then stop chattering away in the back!" he hollered. "I will and can send you out of class!" he threatened.

I shrugged. He had probably eaten something wrong for breakfast.

I turned my head ever so slightly to see the duo. Bella was still stiff, frozen in an unnatural position. Jacob looked as if he was thinking something true. I smiled. Strike one for Bella, a home run for Lauren.

Now, where was that stinking boy Edward?

**Sorry if it's weird, but I'm losing steam now. No worries, I'll still post, just not so frequently. Review loads!**


	9. Lunchtime Scenario

**I just realized something. **

**Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer and not me. Just so you know. **

**There. Sorry, S.M!**

_Lunchtime _

_Thursday_

On the plus side, people were ignoring me like I always wanted. On the minus side, Lauren, being the rebellious person she was, didn't.

She just refused to give me a break! Did she _have _to rub it in my face that she had everything I didn't? It was beyond infuriating, and if she didn't cut it out soon, I was going to rub blue cheese in her face.

Mr Berty dismissed us five minutes early. He smiled like he was being nice. I sighed. Lunch. Whoop-dee-doo. The only period in school that was enjoyable, and I was starting to hate it. I refused to sit at the same table now, and I had retired to a lone table at the corner of the lunchroom.

It wasn't that bad, of course. I was just whining. Angela, Ben, Eric, Tyler and Mike always stayed by my side no matter what, and though I could do without Eric, Mike and Tyler, I appreciated them sticking by me. It was incredibly comforting.

"Bella," Angela said gently at lunch as we were moving along the line. I picked out an apple that had the least amount of bruises. "I'm not asking you to get over it, but you really ought to remember that it will take a lot for them to forgive you. You have to be prepared to wait."

"I know, I know," I mumbled, fishing out a bunch of crumpled-up bills. "I just can't believe how stupid I was to think they wouldn't get mad at me for keeping quiet."

"You're not stupid, Bella," Mike said in a quiet aside. "You never were."

"Then I was deluded." I payed for my lunch and walked off to my table, the rest behind me.

"You're neither," Angela said quickly. "You couldn't have known how they were going to react. Stop beating yourself up, Bella. You don't deserve it."

I sighed. "You're right. I shouldn't be brooding over this." My voice grew stronger, losing the wobbly edge in it as I spoke. "Whatever is supposed to happen will happen. Leave the Cullens be and to damn with them."

"Yeah!" my friends cheered, earning themselves a few weird stares from a few seniors sitting nearby.

"I am strong. I will not succumb to the evils of Edward Cullen and his minions!" I was laughing now.

Mike pumped his fist. "Hear, hear!" he cheered.

"I will not-"

My voice abruptly broke off. "Oh, crap," I whimpered, sliding in my seat as I spotted Rosalie Hale Cullen walking towards me. Tyler kicked me under the table.

"Whatever happened to evil Cullen minions?" he protested under his breath. I moaned and slid lower in response.

Rose stopped at our table, pausing somewhere in between me and Mike, who was opposite me. Her arms were resting elegantly on her hips. I swallowed slightly before looking up to meet her beautiful face set in a huge frown.

"Y-yes, Rosalie?" I squeaked. She said nothing, just glared at me for a moment.

"ISABELLA MARIE SWAN! HOW DARE YOU!" Rose screamed suddenly. I froze. I was pretty sure my face was ashen white now. I risked a glance at the Cullen's table. Edward looked smug, Emmett and Jasper horrified while Alice was looked like she was about to burst into laughter. I gulped.

Rosalie took my hand firmly and pulled me up. I staggered into her and she hugged so darn tightly it felt like iron bands were constricting my chest. God, the girl can hug like Emmett.

"How dare you make up with them while I was recovering from fainting," she whispered into my ear. I laughed softly.

"Did you really want me to burst into your room dragging wires and unnameable fluids behind me?" I teased. Rose laughed, messing my hair. I narrowed my eyes at her. "Now, that wasn't necessary. Just look at Alice."

That caused both of us to laugh a lot more. Alice was glowering at us, no doubt having heard everything I said in the dead quiet of the cafeteria. She dragged her chair back and strode over to us. Somehow she looked a lot more scary. I half whimpered and let go of Rosalie. Rose giggled.

"Isabella! Did I hear you actually _accuse _me of being a shopaholic maniac?!" she hollered. The cafeteria was literally trying to stifle giggles. The reaction was probably from my face; I could feel my skin had turned cold and clammy from the strange scenario I was now put in.

I shrugged. "Um…yes?" It came out a question, and I could hear Emmett's boisterous laughter from halfway across the room. I could feel Edward's reluctant amusement. I knew him well enough to know he appreciated the performance.

Alice screamed. "Argh! I am so not an accused shopaholic maniac! I _am _a crazy full-on buster shopaholic maniac!"

Now Jasper was laughing, too. Rose and me stared at her.

"She gets it, Ali. Bug off. I was here first." Rosalie glared at her. "You had time to talk to her when I was in hospital."

"Not that much time," Alice pouted. I rolled my eyes. Alice glowered at me. "Don't you dare roll your eyes at me, Ms Swan."

I sighed. "Guys, can you please let me eat?" I plopped myself onto my seat and stared at them stubbornly. Alice sighed, impatient, and dragged a chair over.

"Hey!" Mike objected when Rose elbowed him off his chair, taking his place.

"All about grace, darling," she said to Alice, winking. I giggled. Rose could be such a bitch.

"Uh-huh. Grace is so going to earn you a one-way ticket to the bitchiness club, Rosalie," Alice replied. Angela snorted softly. I nudged her, grinning.

"That's the Cullens for you," I whispered. Angela smiled.

"Lucky girl," she whispered back.

Lucky I was indeed.

**So I know this chapter was basically useless, but I couldn't help inserting some fluff in before it gets serious. Review guys! I'd send Edward if I could, but he's too busy wrestling Emmett in my bedroom. **


	10. Who's She?

**So sorry for not updating, guys! So I was reading a few past reviews, and realized I never did answer some questions. **

**Edward is staying with Lauren to help David because Lauren won't take his money otherwise, and Forks Hospital has a policy that makes sure no donations are accepted unless the patient's next of kin allows it.**

**. **

**In Chapter 2, Please Don't Freak Out On Me, there is a part where Lauren reaches up to whisper something into Edward's ear in the cafeteria, in the fifth paragraph from the end. What she is really whispering to Edward is warning him to shut up and keep on with the act. In that scenario, Edward is pissed but since Bella is so far off from him (the Cullens were directly across the cafeteria), she can't see his anger. This was asked via PM by someone called AnonymousCullen. Hope it answers your question…if you're still reading, that is. **

**In Chapter 3 the famous photo of Lauren and Mike with Tyler's face on it was plastered up there by Tyler himself. He blew up the photo at his house and so that Mike doesn't get whacked by the teachers, he put his own face on it to disguise Mike. He did it to cheer Bella up and to provide a distraction from Bella's misadventures. Gina, his girlfriend, stuck up the photo since she was a ninja wannabe. **

_New Kid In Town_

_Friday_

For some strange reason, the school was more alive today. Everyone was muttering to themselves, not seeming quite present in the future. Though from all the muttering I kind of got the gist that nobody quite new what was going on.

I walked to class with Alice, Rose and Jasper-Emmett was somewhere trying to reason with Edward against my wishes. Knowing Emmett, it would probably be 'reasoning' five seconds and 'wrestling and forcing him to reason' ten minutes.

"What's going on? Everybody seems so hyper," I commented, ducking under the shelter from the light drizzle. I blew on my hands to keep them warm.

"You haven't heard? Forks is seeing more excitement these past few months than my whole life," Rosalie asnwered, sniffing haughtily. "There's _another _new kid."

"And apparently she came from the beautiful far off country of Italy," Alice chimed in.

I rose my brows. "Italy? Either she's brave or she's one–"

"Idiot," the three of us said together. I smiled and continued talking. "But really, three visitors in three months? That's quite something."

"Tell me about it," Rose snorted. "There hasn't been this much excitement since the town drunk put down the bottle and joined church."

"Abe stopped drinking? When did _that _happen?" I asked. Old Abe, or Drunk Abe, whichever you preferred, was a notorious drinker when I was still living here in the Pre-Divorce era. He always kept a bottle of something in a paper bag he never went around without. He scared me to bits then.

"Two years before you came," Alice said nonchalantly. "He was diagnosed with liver failure and went cold turkey. You should've seen him. He looked like Carlisle before his morning coffee."

I started laughing. Carlisle without caffeine was hilarious. He looked like a lost rabbit without it. It was one of Carlisle's funnier flaws.

We strolled into the main building, where the corridor was full of students lounging around before the bell rang. The same corridor where The Photo, aka the photo where Lauren and Mike had been caught making out, had been blown up and posted.

Rose was narrating a rather hilarious recount about one April Fool's Day where the Cullens had teamed up with Mike's 'gang' consisting of Tyler, Eric, Angela, Jessica, and Lauren (ugh) to prank the entire school, teachers and principle included. Apparently they had staged a dramatic confrontation over a supposed staring incident.

"And Carlisle even joined in. He came into the school on this Harley Davidson wearing a leather jacket and PVC tights looking _hilarious _and told us to kiss and make up," Rosalie laughed. Alice grinned.

"And when Esme found out she refused to talk to Carlisle for weeks," Alice added. I was laughing to death at a weird image of Carlisle as a Ghost Rider wannabe. It was way too wrong.

We stopped outside my class, Alice smiling at me. "Good luck with Edward, Bella," she said to me.

"Yeah, I'll get Emmett to kick his ass if he won't listen to logic," Rose chimed in. I snickered and waved to them, walking in.

Immediately I knew something was wrong.

.xXx.

"Um…no offense, but this is my seat," I said, trying to sound firm but coming off completely wimpy. I attempted a weak stare at the girl sitting in _my _place.

She had pale, washed out skin that was scarily pale. She was petite…actually, small would be a better word. She looked barely twelve. Her hair was a matching pale brown, trimmed to something like a pixie cut. Her figure was slim and adrogynous but her face was beyond beautiful. Actually, it was angelic.

"Really?" she asked in a high-pitched voice. "That's funny. I don't see your name down here."

That did it. I officially hated this girl. She joined cahoots with Lauren at the top spot of my Most Hated list of people.

"Look, missy, I don't know where you're from or who you are, but the way things work around here are that this is _my _seat. You're new, go seat at the back," I spat at her. She stood up, deliberately scraping the stool against the floor, and standing up to glare at me.

She glared at me before stomping off haughtily to take her seat next to a boy with permanently crusted nostrils and gelled hair. He looked thrilled when she slid down next to him, never mind her pissed off expression.

Edward came in then, holding his books cradled to his chest. I read somewhere that that was a defensive sign. Body Language Today, I think the magazine was called. It stank, big time. Practically useless.

He rose one eyebrow at me before looking very pointedly at the steaming mad girl at the back, who I could tell was glaring daggers at me.

"She was pissing me off," I explained. He nodded and sat down. I sighed.

Stupid new kids.

**So sorry for not updating, people! Hope this satisfied you guys till next time!**


	11. The Ice Queen

**Guys, I know I haven't been updating, and I am sorry. Promise I'll update more frequently. :D Oh, and I apologize for the vulgarities. Just thought it was appropriate to slip them in. **

_Miss Ice Queen_

_Friday_

"I. Hate. That. Girl," I said through a mouthful of spaghetti, jabbing my fork with each word. Alice looked at me in amusement.

"And that's reason enough for you to ignore female social etiquette because?" Alice asked, dabbing her own mouth daintily with a tissue. She did this after every mouthful. It was driving me insane.

"Damn, Alice. To hell with etiquette," I said, reaching over and grabbing the stupid tissue and throwing it randomly. It thunked off some guy's head who didn't even notice the tomato-smeared tissue. "When times get hard, girls get bitchy. But times aren't hard, and there's no reason for any girl to act like the queen of Bitch Club."

"You referring to the girl who's shamelessly flirting with Edward?" Rosalie asked.

"_What_?" I half-yelled, twisting around so fast everything else was a blur. All I saw was Edward looking glum as usual next to Lauren.

"Just kidding. Knew that would get you mad." Rose winked at me.

I groaned. "Hey, where're the guys anyway?" Alice asked.

"They got held back for a lecture," Rose answered. "Something to do with paper airplanes in class."

Paper airplanes. Could they get any more immature?

"Hello? Can we get back to the topic at hand here?" I demanded, frustrated.

"Which would be?" Rose asked, twirling the fork around.

"The new girl!" I almost shrieked. "Jeez, that girl is such a-a-I can't think of any words to describe it! Bitchy ass doesn't even cut close. She's evil, guys, evil, I tell you."

Rosalie and Alice burst out laughing. "Do you know how ridiculous that sounds, Bells?" Alice giggled. "You sound so melodramatic. You sound like Emmett when his clothes can't fit him because he's too big."

Rosalie protested at that. I protested even louder. Me and Emmett? Nah. No way. No similary there. Nope.

"Ugh, Alice. Can you please get some better comparison?" Rose muttered. Alice ignored her.

"Okay, Bella. Give her some time to adjust. She's new here. Somehow I seem to recall a certain someone didn't particularly make the best impression with Lauren and Jessica on _her_ first day…" Alice said, hinting heavily.

"Okay, okay! I give. But for the record, Ali, me not making friends with Twin Bimbos isn't such a bad thing. I mean, look at her!" I jabbed my fork at the table where the new girl was practically drooling at Lauren's feet. Ew, yuck, and double gross. Edward looked almost on the point of vomiting on the spot. It was hilarious.

Rosalie took one look and shuddered. "Okay, that's disgusting."

"It looks like Emmett with chocolate stuck all over his body," Alice agreed.

"WILL YOU STOP WITH THE EMMETT COMMENTS?!" Rosalie yelled. Then she blushed. I started laughing.

"What has Alice been commenting about now?" Jasper joked, sliding in next to Alice and kissing her cheek.

"Emmett's body parts," I said, giggling.

Emmett and Jasper stared at Alice, shocked. "What?" Emmett choked. Alice's eyes bulged. Rose started cackling.

"You-you-up or down?" Jasper finally managed to blurt out.

"Down," Rosalie and me said simultaneously. Emmett gasped and covered his...well, you know what. Alice looked mortified. "She said he was so big, he can't fit his clothes."

Emmett's eyes widened. Jasper dropped in a dead faint. I'm not kidding. He actually fainted. Okay, so he sprang up in about three seconds, but Jasper fainted.

Wow.

Emmett started half-laughing, half-sobbing. Well, sobbing without tears. Something like laughing while huge embarrassed sob-like sounds heaving his back and chest.

"You were discussing my _captain_? Rosie! How could you?" he sobbed/cried/laughed. His captain? That was what he called it? Weird.

"Can I join you guys?" a soft velvet voice came from behind. I sighed mentally. Edward. Of course.

Alice nodded, still half-crying while trying to get out a decent explanation. Rosalie and me were in hysterics.

"What's going on?" Edward asked, puzzled, sliding in next to me. _Oh. My. God. He's forgiven me? _

"Alice was discussing my manly erection with Rosie and Bella!" Emmett wailed, sending me and Rose into more laughter. Edward blinked.

"Bella?" he asked softly.

Too bad I was too busy laughing, or I probably would've swooned that he was actually talking to me again. I only managed a maniac "No…no…" Way to go, Bella. Very articulate.

Edward blinked again before breaking out into uncontrollable laughter just like the rest of us.

"I see," Edward laughed. "So, Alice, what's the verdict?"

"I never-but-what-argh!" Alice spluttered. Even Jasper started laughing at Alice.

And then, just when things were getting so friendly and warm, the bell rang. Stupid bell. Edward groaned. Immediately I heard a soft, nasal voice behind him.

"Edward, dear, don't want to be late for class, do we?" Lauren asked, supposedly sweetly. Her attempt at being nice was so fake I started sniggering. She shot me a distasteful look. Excuse me, I wasn't the one with the non-existent skirt.

Hell, I didn't even wear anything shorter than three inches from my knees.

"Actually, Lauren, I don't mind. You should go to class, though." Edward was trying to control his temper, I could tell. It was so obvious by the tone which he spoke to Lauren. It was astonishing, how different it was when he was speaking to Lauren and her minions and when he was speaking to Emmett or Jasper or Rose or Alice or…me.

Lauren hissed slightly. "Might I remind you of our-your-agreement?" she asked, obviously intending to have said _our _agreement, implying that apparently Edward walking her to class was part of the twisted contract that had Edward masquerading as her boyfriend as part of its sick criteria.

"The agreement's off, Lauren," Edward said quietly. "I can't deal with this anymore. I quit."

Maybe I was deaf, but _what _did he just say?

Lauren froze. "W…what?" she asked slowly, echoing my thoughts. I hear you, witch, I really do. Might be the only thing we have in common.

"You heard him," Alice spat out. "Get lost. He doesn't want you and your four inch heels anymore."

I turned to look at Lauren's expression-which, by the way, was hilarious. That was when I spotted the tiny brown-haired Queen of Sheba smirking at the back. Jeez, I wanted to slap that girl.

Lauren hissed. "You won't be able to give the donation now," she said, snarling, dropping all pretenses. "You need my _permission._"

Make that two people I wanted to slap in the face.

"Actually, Lauren," Edward corrected. "The donation's already made."

"WHAT?!" she shrieked. I paused. I was going to get a demerit for being late to class and Charlie would be notified, but this was worth it.

"You signed the thing after that party," Edward said, shrugging. A barest hint of a smile flickered across his face. "You were kinda drunk."

Lauren began shrieking some vulgarities, but Emmett got up, making a pretty scary sight with his furious expression. "Bitch. He said no. Get lost. Now."

Squeaking, Lauren glared at Edward one last time before walking off hastily. The brown haired kid went off slower, smirking. I stuck to my earlier words. She was evil. Really.

The moment the skank gang left, the table broke into loud cheers. Emmett was screaming the loudest, alternating between good-for-yous and why-the-hell-didn't-you-do-that-earliers. Alice was just screaming.

I had to get away from all the noise. I got up and left the cafeteria quietly. Nobody even noticed.

I sighed, leaning my head against cool tile. The noise gave me a throbbing headache. I couldn't stomach noise very well.

Edward and Lauren were over. I should be happy. Why wasn't I happy?

"Hello," said a cool, quiet voice from behind me.


	12. Hello & Hopefully Goodbye

**Chapter dedicated to bcookie, who sent in an interesting review asking me to dedicate this to you. So here you go. Hope you enjoy your dose of the new girl. :D Enjoy and do review. And by the way, I am looking for songs I can preferably find on YouTube. Sad songs that remind you of death and sadness. Any recommendations? The song will be used for inspiration for a one-shot. Credit will be given. :D Thanks.**

_Hello & Hopefully Goodbye_

_Friday_

I turned slightly to see Edward a few feet away, careful not to invade my personal space. I disagreed. I needed him to invade my personal space. I wanted him to.

Sighing, I leaned against the wall. The tiles felt painful through the thin shirt, but I ignored it. "Yes, Edward?" I asked.

He hesitated, licking his lips. "I…I just wanted to apologize for being such an idiot the past month. I know how hard it must have been for you with moving back and everything, and I guess I just made everything harder by acting like a jerk. I'm just…I'm just really, really sorry."

I blinked. Did he just apologize? He didn't, did he? Had I finally gone loony? I squinted at him. "You're joking, right?"

He started laughing. "When I don't apologize, you hate me. When I do, you think I'm kidding. What's wrong with you?"

I started laughing too. He was right…sort of. "Well, it is kind of unbelievable. I thought you had completely crossed to the dark side."

Edward's faced darkened. "You know what's happening." It was a statement, not a question. I paused, deliberating how to phrase what I was going to say next. I didn't need him misunderstanding me when we had just made up so nicely.

"Well…it's pretty obvious, Edward. You and Lauren, you aren't precisely in the running for the Couple of The Year award. It's bizarre and honestly, a bit freakish. So…yeah, you could say I know what's happening. Sort of, anyway."

Wow. Articulate, Bella. Did you really answer the question in detail? Guess not.

Edward started to laugh again, stepping a little closer. "That obvious, huh?"

I pretended think for a moment, then grinned. "Pretty much, yeah. Each time you're around her you have that get-me-out-of-here look. It's hilarious. I should've taken a photo."

"Oh, no you didn't," Edward gasped in mock horror.

"Yes I did," I countered, smirking like a kid. I felt like a kid, the way Edward made me feel so excited all over again.

"No you did not," Edward said, laughing. I giggled.

"Oh, yeah," I giggled. He stepped closer to me. Now we were almost touching. If I just reached out…one hand…

No! What was I thinking? _He_ was supposed to make a move, not me! Ew, he would think I was a rapist or desperate or something!

Ugh, social rules sucked. I wanted to jump him.

"No," Edward breathed, stepping even closer. Less than an inch, and his lips would graze mine.

"Yes, yes, yes," I whispered, trying to sound firm but coming off weak. God, was he trying to seduce me all over again? He could just _tell _me he wanted me to kiss him and I would comply. He didn't really need all this movie mush. I felt like an extra on a movie set and any moment a director would call cut and ask what the hell was I doing here.

Edward didn't bother answering. He took that one last step and he kissed me.

I never knew how much I had missed this. Oh, I had missed it, all right, but I never knew just how _much_. Our time apart left a bittersweet after taste, more bitter than anything, but now the sweetness came flowing with a gusto that I fervently welcomed.

Our lips moved together in harmony, in synch. He sighed softly and wrapped his arms around me. Usually I didn't condone this kind of behavior-making out just after he had just broken up with Lauren-but the kiss was so gentle, it didn't really qualify as being of the hook-up-now variety I detested.

Besides, when Edward Cullen wants to kiss you, you can't actually deny him that.

How long we just stood there, I don't know. I lost track of time completely. Nothing existed but him. Yes, it sounds incredibly cheesy, but it was true. I didn't even care if a teacher suddenly burst in and caught us making out when we should be in class.

Speaking of which, where were the Cullens, anyway?

A loud bang answered my question.

Immediately Edward and I sprang apart, though we were quick enough to untangle ourselves from the mess of limbs we had somehow become. Alice pounced in, jumping through the door and landing facing us, feet apart, and holding a camera, looking like a bad Jackie Chan wannabe in some commercial.

A loud click told me the picture had been taken, the damage been done…and my photo had been taken, with me probably looking like a deer caught in headlights. Cue wide eyes and open mouth. Click, photo taken. I hate my best friend. She had a knack for taking photos at the worst times.

Edward hated her at the moment too, apparently. He groaned and disentangled himself, striding over to her. Alice efficiently threw the camera up a bunch of lockers where she would no doubt later bribe Jasper to take for her on account of him being the tallest of us all. **(AN: I have no clue if he is the tallest but I always imagined him as tallest, so yeah.)**

"Al-ice," he whined, dragging the word out. I just pouted. Alice giggled. Jasper smiled. Emmett laughed loudly. And Rose clapped her hands and squealed.

Honestly, the Cullens get excited _wayy_ too easily.

"Finally! Finally, finally, finally, it's done!" Alice squealed.

"Alice!" I groaned.

Alice smiled at me innocently, the picture of an angel. Oh, an angel she was _not_.

"What? You two look so cute together! It's almost as adorable as Jasper and me," she added. I raised my eyebrows.

"Hey! What about me?" Emmett protested, Rose starting to laugh at his injured tone. Alice looked at him in disgust.

"You two _would _be cute if not for the PDA. That's just revolting," Alice told him. Edward started to laugh-no, howl-at that. Jasper grinned at his fraternal twin's faux hurt and slung an arm over Alice's shoulder.

"Harsh, Alice," he said, smiling. Alice shrugged, saying something along the lines of, 'they deserved it', but I was too distracted by Edward to care. He carefully stepped back next to me and sort of pressed himself to my side.

"Get ready to run. On the count of three," he muttered, so soft I barely heard it. I looked at him, but he just smiled at me. Alice and Emmett were too busy bickering to notice our exchange.

I felt Edward's hand press into my back. He pressed his thumb into my back-one. Then he pressed his index finger-two. The moment I felt his long middle finger press into my backbone, I took off.

Amazing, Bella. You only stumbled two times.

Emmett responded to our escape with a loud "Hey!" while Alice burst out laughing like a hyena. It took a couple of seconds before Jasper and Emmett took off after us.

Of course, with my amazing running prowess (not), Jasper caught me in, oh, about three seconds. His long arms snaked around my waist and lifted me up in an overhead spin. The ceiling whirled around me and I was screaming by then.

I heard Emmett catch Edward and drag him back. By the sounds of it Edward was putting up a pretty awesome struggle while laughing his butt off. Emmett was having fun. Rose and Alice caught up with us and started laughing.

A soft cough interrupted our fun. I groaned mentally. Please do not let that be a teacher.

Jasper put me down and turned slowly. Obviously he was afraid of the same thing. We all let out a soft sigh of relief when we saw only a student there. Well, five people let out a sigh of relief. I hissed.

"Excuse me, but I need to talk to Bella Swan," the brown-haired ice queen said daintily. I narrowed my eyes. God, if you let me in a room alone with that girl, I am going to punch her lights out till she'll run home with me having made her officially infertile.

Everyone looked at me. I gritted my teeth. Please do not let me punch this girl. At least not until after she said whatever she wanted to say.

"Privately," she added, then turned and went into the very room we had just vacated. I took in a deep breath through my nose and holding it, went into the place.

I looked at her expectantly. No way in hell was I going to say the first word. That would imply I actually wanted to hear what she wanted to say.

Her words surprised me. "I'm sorry."

I blinked. "Excuse me?" I asked in spite of myself.

"I know we got off on the wrong foot, and I'm sorry for that. It's just that I was having a harsh day, what with moving here and everything. I was pretty rude this morning, and I'm sorry." She smiled at me apologetically. "My name's Jane. Hope we can be friends."

Then she turned and walked out, leaving me standing behind dumbfounded.

The Cullens filed in, looking back over their shoulders at her. "What was that?" Edward asked cautiously.

"I…have no idea."


	13. Charlie's Intervention

The day had passed quite quickly after Jane's little exhibition. I was still racking my brains over her sudden personality change when I pulled up in front of the house. I let the engine idle for a while, still wondering, before sighing and cutting it abruptly. I probably wouldn't be able to figure her out anyway. She was plain weird.

To my surprise I noted Charlie's cruiser was sitting on the driveway looking completely at home. I scowled at it. It looked more serene than I was at the moment. Though I couldn't really complain, what with having made up with Edward and all. Still, I hadn't counted on Charlie being home. I had wanted to have a nice long talkathon with Edward over the phone regarding Jane's bizarre state of mind.

I opened the unlocked door, sighing slightly. I had told him time and again that he needed to lock the door. He might be Chief Swan, but in his own home with his gun and belt put up, he was just another potbellied, baseball-loving dad sitting at home watching TV. If a robber came in...I shuddered.

I clomped into the house, hanging up my damp jacket. The TV blared distantly and Charlie poked his head out. "Hey there, kiddo."

I managed a tiny smile. "Hi, Dad. What're you doing home from work so early?" I added weakly.

Charlie shrugged sheepishly. "Well...things were going kinda slow at the station, and Mark suddenly returned three days early from his vacation so I thought I'd come home and see my daughter for a change." He grinned suddenly and reached over to ruffle my hair. "You know, Bells, I feel like I haven't seen you in ages."

"Exaggeration," I protested. "You saw me this morning."

"I meant a good talk, father to daughter. Apart from dinner."

He had me there. Charlie smiled triumphantly. "Fine, okay, Dad. But what exactly were you planning on? If you tell me baseball..." I groaned.

Charlie pursed his lips, as if he was actually considering it. Ugh. Baseball? Not me. "Well, actually...I was going to go over to Billy's. Jacob came down with some virus of some sort. I wanted to see how he was doing."

Virus? Oh...that explained why he had been skipping so much school. I frowned. "And does this have anything to do with the new sixteen-inch plasma flat screen Billy just bought?" I teased. The new TV had been all Charlie could talk about the past couple weeks.

Charlie bit his lip sheepishly and looked at me hopefully. I groaned and surrendered.

.xXx.

"Wow, your truck is slow," Charlie commented. I glared at him. Oh, so the man who drives a police cruiser around was knocking my truck? He had some nerve. "What? I'm just saying."

I huffed slightly and parked the truck. Charlie hopped out before I cut the engine. I got out after him and hurried to the door, where he had already imposed his omnipresent bulk. Billy opened the door brightly before Charlie knocked.

"Nice to see you, Bella," Billy greeted me. "Jacob's in bed. He's still recuperating. I think he's kinda weak. The virus took a lot out of him."

"What virus was it?" I asked, easing my way past Charlie's parked body on the front step and entering the house. Billy snickered a little at that.

"Not really sure, actually. The doctor down here isn't really competent, and we didn't want to bother your Dr Cullen up there. He must be quite busy. It's probably nothing more than the flu." Billy winked at me and practically dragged Charlie to their living room, where he proudly showed off the sparkling new TV set with a rather grandiose air. I rolled my eyes.

"Nice, eh? You should see the details that show up on this baby. Jake was watching Fast and Furious 2 last night, and boy, the action was beyond awesome-"

"Jacob's up?" I interrupted. Billy looked a little surprised by my curtness. Evidently he had no clue of what was going on.

"Yeah, actually. A little grumpy, but he's fine as long as you leave his food alone. He insisted on getting some exercise. For some reason he thinks he's aging." Billy laughed loudly, reminding me of Emmett's guffaws. "I told him never to say that around a greying old man."

"You're not greying," I protested. "And you're not old either."

Charlie sniffed in mock sadness. "If he's old, I'm ancient," he whined. I giggled. Charlie was a different story altogether. I believe he's almost fifty.

"Can't I even get some sleep?"

Jacob's whiny voice echoed through the house, and everyone froze. I looked at Charlie and Billy and fought an urge to laugh. Charlie had frozen in the middle of punching Billy's shoulder. Both were looking in the direction of the staircase. Finally Billy managed to call out, "It's almost six, son."

"In the morning?"

Billy sighed. "You have a window in your room, open it, why don't you?"

Jacob grunted. I could hear him clump down the stairs, yawning hugely. "Who's there? I heard someone laughing."

"Come in and see, then," Billy called, sounding a tad irritated.

I was sorely tempted to duck behind the glossy TV. Of course, I didn't. I still had my pride to protect, as bruised and wounded it was. Though I did take a tiny half-step behind that was so miniscule nobody even noticed.

Jacob appeared, his face bleary with exhaustion. His eyes widened when he spotted Charlie standing in the hallway looking a bit awkward before sliding to rest on me. His face grew pinched. Was he that mad at me? Something squeezed in me in return.

Then his face relaxed, and it was as if the expression never existed. "Hi, Chief," he said, grinning suddenly. "Come to visit our new TV? I heard it's very interested in meeting you."

Charlie laughed, relaxing from his weird pose. "Hope you don't mind me living here, Jacob," he joked.

"Naw, it's cool." Jacob leaned around to wink at me with easy familiarity. "Hey there, Bells."

I could only stare at him in shock as Charlie and Billy moved over to the TV to gush over its _amazing _qualities. Way to go, Dad, leaving me stranded there with Jacob.

Jake cleared his throat nervously. "Um. Bella. I-I just wanted to say something."

I groaned and flung myself against the wall, throwing my hands up. "I knew it. I just knew it. You didn't want to see me, you just wanted to bash me up more than you already have. What is it now, Jacob? What kind of blasphemy do you want to accuse me of this time? Or did you want to...to slam me for doing some petty crime that is apparently so damn heinous to you?"

Jacob stared at me for about three seconds before breaking out in crazy laughter. Billy and Charlie popped out from around the corner, shrugged, and went back to gushing again.

Time stopped. Bird stopped chirping. Water in rivers stopped flowing. The earth stopped orbiting the sun. I saw red.

"WHAT?!" I shrieked. "After all that, you STILL have nerve to laugh in my face?! How dare you, Jacob Black? Damn you! Damn you to hell!"

With that, I turned to stomp out of the house and drive off, leaving Charlie behind stranded. He could walk back for all I care. Served him right for dragging me into this mess with Jacob Effing Black.

"Wait-wait, Bells. Give-me-a-moment," Jacob gasped, lunging at me and grabbing my wrist. I stopped and whirled to face him, arms folded across my chest and staring at him in stony silence. It took Jacob more than a minute to stop laughing. He slapped his hands over his mouth to try drown out the laughter. I tapped my foot impatiently.

"I was-was-I...I was..."

And then he gave up and started laughing again. I yelled out, frustrated. "What?!" I hollered.

"I was trying to apologize!" Jacob screamed, clutching his sides. And he had the nerve to keep laughing.

I froze, dumbstruck. Somewhere further down Charlie and Billy started howling with laughter. "W-what?"

I seem to be using that word a lot today.

"I was going to apologize to you in school-you know, flower petals all over your locker, your photo all over the school, Forgive Me Bella fliers distributed-but then I came down with this stupid virus and missed so much school. Thank God I practically begged Billy to invite Charlie and you over for dinner or I wouldn't have seen you for another week. I just didn't know you would come over today, of all times."

With that, he started laughing. Again. I huffed slightly.

"Pfft, Jacob, you could've just said so," I muttered.

"I tried, Bells. You just didn't want to listen," he pointed out. I grunted, refusing to acknowledge that he was right.

"Hmph," I grumbled, and stomped to Charlie, leaving Jacob behind laughing.

**Did it suck? Did it rock? So sorry that it took so long for this chapter, but I had trouble finding inspiration. And by the way, does anybody want a one-shot on how Jacob's apology would've gone if he had gone to school? I have a weird urge to go dramatic and write a bizarre story on that, but if nobody wants it then I won't waste my time. And as always, review or Bella will catch Edward making out with Jane and run away screaming to find Jacob making out with Rosalie!**


	14. Cookies!

**Please don't kill me! I've decided not to write the one-shot on Jacob's Apology after all, although I did have a first draft typed out. The more I looked at it the more wrong it seemed to look, so I right-clicked and clicked that little DELETE button. It's one of those pieces that just have to be an abstact piece of work, so I'm going to leave it to your imaginations to decide how Jacob should apologize. Also, dibs to Ravita13 whose review made me laugh! But enough rambling on my part. I bring to you Chapter 14 of Falling Down and Getting Up II: Black Rose! Here's....(drumroll) Cookies!**

_Cookies!  
Saturday_

I rolled over in my bed, clutching my pillow. "Mhm," I mumbled to nothing, slapping the bloody alarm clock that didn't get the concept that weekends were off days. I scratched my forehead

Friday night had been full of happiness and a sense of relief now that Jacob and I had reconciled. It sounded hokey in that context, but really it was the best way to describe how I felt. That sense of release that could only be bought by accomplishing something you _know _won't be pleasant. I was just relieved that the reconciliation wasn't as messy as I had expected it to be. Of course there was an added plus considering Jacob had actually wanted to make up with me in the first place.

Most of last night had been spent alternating laughing at Billy and Charlie's antics, wolfing down the three large pizzas Billy ordered, and filling Jacob in on the latest gossip and homework. And of course, Jacob groaned when he heard about the dozens of essays he had to write.

"Bella!" Charlie hollered from downstairs. Groaning again, I rolled over and thunked on the floor, swaying slightly. I was _not _a morning person, mostly because my body is never programmed to wake up when it's supposed to, so when I do wake up I'm in a foul mood. Add that to my doubtful sense of equilibrium and you have a walking disaster waiting to happen.

I opened the door and stuck my head out, peering down the stairs blearily at Charlie. "What?"

"I'm going to Billy's," Charlie called out, hopping on one foot while putting on his sneakers. Then he promptly fell over. Nice to know where I got my clumsiness from.

"Dad, we just went over yesterday," I mumbled, swiping at my eyes to get rid of the filmy stuff covering them. Charlie grinned sheepishly, toeing the floor.

"Um...yeah, but there's a really good game on today, and Jacob's gonna be at the school getting his homework and stuff, so I figured Billy needed the company," Charlie said, looking exactly like a kid caught stealing from the cookie jar. I giggled a little at him.

"Of course," I teased him, slapping my hand over my mouth to stifle a huge yawn. Jeez, Jane's little personality disorder and the make-ups with Edward and Jacob must've been tiring me out more than I thought. I was never this sleepy in the mornings, even on weekends when I slept late.

Charlie looked at me with concerned eyes. "Get some sleep, Bells. You look like hell."

"Thanks a lot," I said sarcastically, turning and clunking back to my bed. I fell into it, burying my face in the mess of blankets and pillows. I lay there for a couple minutes before giving up. This wasn't going to work. I stomped to the bathroom and ran a really, really cold shower-which worked, by the way, to wake me up.

I padded out of the shower, unbelievably still yawning, and flopped onto my bed. Then I shot upright when I heard something clatter on my floor.

"Alice! For God's sake, never creep up on me again like that!"

Alice giggled and threw herself on my bed, sprawling out comfortably. I looked at her, irritated. "Nice to see you're making yourself at home," I said.

Alice chucked a pillow at me, which missed and hit the closet. "Oh, get a grip, Bella. Just because your house is incredibly easy to sneak into doesn't mean you have to turn all grumpy on me." She paused, considering her immaculate manicure. "You know, you'd think the house the Chief lives in would be _slightly _harder to break into. But no, it was simply a matter of turning the doorknob and coming in."

My eyebrows shot up. "Oh? Did you come in by the front door?"

Alice smirked cheekily at me and mimed zipping her lips. I sighed. Of course not. The good ol' front door was too plain for the amazing, al-mighty Alice. No, she had to come in through Charlie's window by the back. It was a miracle the neighbours hadn't called the police, considering the number of times Alice had climbed in through the back like a burglar. Wouldn't that be awkward, Charlie coming over to his own house following a reported robbery by his daughter's crazy best friend?

"What do you want, Alice?" I groaned. Alice sat upright and handed me a strawberry yogurt.

"Eat," she ordered before continuing. "Actually, I uncovered some real dirt about that girl Jane," Alice whispered to me. Honestly, who did she expect would overhear us? The walls? But still I straightened up, looking at her expectantly.

"Her parents bought that big house by the river, kinda close to ours," Alice said. "So basically they can be considered our neighbours. She's from Italy, as expected, and she's living alone."

"Alone?" I asked doubtfully. That sounded a little hard to swallow. She looked so darn tiny.

"Alone," Alice confirmed. "But she does have some creepy guy called Alec who calls her every week to check up on her. I kinda got the vibe that Alec was her...you know...toy boy."

I choked on the yoghurt I was swallowing. "_What_?!" I spluttered. "Alice, how do you _know _this stuff?"

Alice shrugged innocently. "I might have spied on them one time...or two," she added, looking out the window. I felt my cheeks start to burn as the _toy boy_ part sank in.

"Alice, you are...you...argh!" I shouted, giving up. She looked at me, looking a tad irritated.

"Spit it out, Bella, or keep quiet," Alice told me. She waited a few seconds for a retort that never came, and triumphantly went on. "Anyway, I think you should be careful of this Jane girl."

I looked at her questioningly. Alice sighed. "She has a thing for Edward," she told me, lowering her voice.

"How do you know?"

Alice shrugged. "I have my ways. Just watch out, Bella. I don't think her intentions are all that innocent. Everyone knows I'm a gorgeous psychic, but this is way weird."

I snorted, choosing to focus on the psychic part rather than dwell on the Jane-likes-Edward part. "A gorgeous psychic? More like a rabid shopaholic lunatic that _thinks _she can predict the future," I scoffed. Alice glared at me. I smiled at her innocently.

Then she hopped up and caught hold of my wrist, dragging me out. I protested violently at this abrupt departure. "Stuff it, Bella. You have the whole day to yourself and there is absolutely no way I am going to let you mope around in your house without anybody to keep you company. Edward's been tasked to help Esme out with cooking for some strange doctor get-together later, so he can't come over to keep you company. Emmett can, though."

I paused. No way in hell am I going to let Emmett come over and ruin a perfectly nice Saturday with his endless teasing. I grabbed a wrist purse. "Let's go."

"Honestly, Bella, don't you have better bags than that...that thing?" Alice sniffed, dragging me to her car. "It looks like it belongs in some ratty army magazine. Look at how many holes there are in that!"

"Alice, if this is a not-so-subtle hint of how you want me to go shopping with you, my answer is no." Alice moaned loudly and started driving to her house.

.xXx.

The whole way Alice was singing along to a cheesy song on radio-well, screaming would be a better description. I ignored her wailing and tiny jabs at my choice of attire and looked out the window. Soon we arrived and I almost sprinted to the door. Alice huffed a little behind me.

"Really, Bella, anyone would think you're happy to be rid of me."

I paused long enough to roll my eyes at her and went into the house, flying into the kitchen and slamming my body into Edward. He yelled out before seeing who the crazy person who had slammed into him was. He sagged against the kitchen countertop, one hand over his heart.

"Jeesh, Bella, don't do that!" he said, but the bite was taken out of his words by the soft kiss he placed on me. I noticed he was careful to keep his hands off me. I started laughing at him. His entire body, from his hair to his sneakers, were covered in flour and tiny splatters of egg yolk.

"Edward, what on earth are you trying to do? Bake cookies or bake the house?" I gasped between laughter. Edward folded his arms, which only made the flour-egg mixture spread over his clothes even more. That, of course, sent me into convulsions.

Edward sniffed in mock hurt. "I'll have you know that my cookies are internationally acclaimed for their sweet-and-salty combination," Edward informed me. I giggled.

"That and the fact the judges probably gagged to death after the first bite so they couldn't judge well," I said, laughing. Edward pouted and turned away from me to continue frosting the batch of cookies he had just taken out of the oven. I peeked over his shoulder and saw he was putting little smiley faces on them in black, white and green frosting. I giggled again.

"Oh, come on. Nerdy faces? Can't you be more original?" I asked.

"It is the hospital doctors coming over. Why not play up their intelligence?" Edward asked, shrugging.

"You know you're insulting Carlisle too, right?" I pointed out. Edward grinned at me and put one finger over his lips in a shh gesture. I shook my head.

**Sorry for the abrupt ending, guys, but I had no idea how to end well. This chapter's longer than the rest-1601 words-and I'm pretty proud of myself now. As always, review and enjoy!**


	15. The Doctors

**I'm back with another chapter! You guys gave me 9 reviews for chapter 14. WHAT?! I got 18 reviews for chapter 13! Come on, guys! You can do better! **

***awkward silence***

**Okay, I'll just give you the chapter before Jane decides to do something stupid on me.**

_The Doctors  
Saturday_

"Wow, Carlisle, your house is amazing," gushed one of the female doctors as the mass of living geniuses came through the door. I punched Emmett's ribs and gestured towards the brunette doing all but clinging onto him. Emmett started laughing and both the brunette doctor and Carlisle looked up.

"Score!" Emmett yelled, and bounded upstairs. Carlisle stared at me quizzically. I shook my head. _Trust me, you don't want to know, _I mouthed to him. It was true. He didn't.

A loud crash boomed from the kitchen, followed by the clanking of silverware. "_Beee-lllaaaa_!" Edward shrieked from the kitchen, sounding like a drowning cat. I stifled a smile and went to the kitchen to find...

...a huge mess of peanut butter, both chunky and creamy, strawberry jam and the whole drawer of utensils all over the kitchen. A glob of peanut butter dripped steadily from the ceiling. I stared at the mess in horror. Esme and Carlisle appeared behind me, both gasping. "What _happened_?" I asked in disbelief.

"I was decorating the cookies," Edward wailed. "Then Fido over there came and upset everything!" He pointed furiously at a, well, _huge_ black Lab that was sitting down licking the peanut butter eagerly. I blinked, and suddenly all three of us-Carlisle, Esme and me-were laughing.

"It's not funny!" Edward pouted, looking incredibly like his seven-year-old self. "That dog just ruined my-" He broke off his sentence with a huge gasp and turned to the tray of cookies on the counter. Blobs of peanut butter covered the cookies, but otherwise they were fine. I giggled and went over to help him with his precious cookies.

"I swear, Edward, sometimes I wonder if you've grown up at all," I teased, flinging a newspaper at Fido, who was still licking up the mess on the floor. Maybe he'd clean up the whole floor and end up in hospital with indigestion. I was fairly sure it wasn't healthy for dogs to eat Skippy's.

"He hasn't," Carlisle assured me. "He's even worse than Emmett because with Emmett you expect it. With Edward, it's much more random."

I burst out laughing while Edward glared at Carlisle. "Thanks so much, _Dad_."

"Anytime, _son_," Carlisle answered, pretending not to notice the sarcasm. He winked at me and I smiled politely back. Edward looked from me to Carlisle and back to me.

"Please do not tell me you were flirting with my father," Edward said, horrified. I stared at him.

"What?!" I demanded before cracking up again. "What are you on, Edward, drugs? Why the hell would I be flirting with Carlisle?"

Edward shrugged sheepishly, clearing up the last chunk of peanut butter and putting on a coat of glaze. "Sheer paranoia?"

"Sheer idiocy, that's more like it," I laughed, helping him arrange the cookies on the plate nicely. "Edward, sorry to break it to you, but as good-looking as Carlisle is, he's still, what, twenty years older? And I doubt he's into paedophilia."

"I hope he isn't," Edward said, shuddering. I smiled and took one of the plates from him. I nudged his side and we walked out, each carrying one huge plate overflowing with Nerd cookies.

We emerged from the cosy, warm atmosphere of the kitchen to come out in a refined room with several people in suits and cocktail dresses. To be honest, I was a little intimidated by all the finery. Everywhere I looked I saw adults sipping red wine and eating escargots-which Edward later told me he had tried and found to be horrible.

"I'm starting to think maybe I should have made something else instead," Edward murmured to me. "Something like éclairs seems more appropriate." I could understand his nervousness. This was a cocktail party, and somehow cookies didn't fit into the scene. I didn't mention this to Edward, though. I poked his ribs.

"Relax. If they don't like them, Emmett and me will finish the lot to make you feel better, even if it does cause indigestion," I added.

Edward rolled his eyes at me. "Was that meant to make me feel better, Bella? Because it's not working."

"Cheer up."

I felt like a surfer in a tidal wave made out of bodies as we made our way to the long buffet-like table draped with a silky white sheet and set our plates down on the first empty slot we saw. The decorated cookies looked weirdly out of place against the numerous plates of oysters, snails, and itty bitty diet salads.

"Cookies!" Emmett bellowed, charging down the stairs. Jasper came running after him and executed a perfect leap over Emmett, looking as though he was playing leap frog. Both of them muscled their way through the crowd and to the plate.

"Cookies? That's a welcome change," someone muttered, and almost immediately a group of people started towards the five dozen cookies set out on the table. I nudged Edward, grinning.

"So much for cookies not being elegant enough," I mumbled, smiling at Edward's shocked expression as cookie after cookie vanished. He slung a hand around my waist and leaned on me a little, as if he needed the support.

"Wow, these are damn good," someone commented.

A woman laughed. "Jack, these are doctor cookies. Look at the faces!"

Immediately there was a ripple of laughter. Edward blushed furiously.

Then the door open and a gust of cold air swept in. The crowd parted to let the visitor in, murmuring their appreciation as the latecomer entered the mob. I looked up and felt something cold slither down my back.

"Well, well. Who would have thought it? Cookies, here at a gathering for professionals? How...quaint," a soft voice purred. I felt Edward's hand tighten around my waist as I stared at the slimy eyes of Jane.

She was dressed in a clingy, skin tight red dress that flared out at the hips. And though she was at least a head shorter than me, I felt intimidated. I looked down at my ensemble of ripped jeans and a blouse, and felt painfully self-conscious. Jane looked beautiful and kind and gentle.

It absolutely scared me.

"Jane," Edward said politely, inclining his head. I didn't acknowledge her. I mean, seriously, why should I? The girl basically just insulted me her first day in Forks and acted like a complete bitch to me afterwards. Her behaviour was puzzling and infuriating and downright stupid. Add that to the fact that she was after Edward, _my _boyfriend, and I wouldn't spit on her if she was on fire. Hell, I'd probably dance around her.

Her slimy dark eyes slithered to me. "Bella," she said. I blinked. Wow, she was good. She sounded almost...friendly.

"Jane," I said unwillingly. Jane smirked, and looked towards the door.

"She's late," she muttered, almost to herself. What, could someone be ever _later _than Jane already was? I stared at Jane. Didn't she even realize she herself was late?

"Who?" Edward asked, curiously. Jane opened her mouth to answer, but then the door opened again, letting in another flux of cold air. I looked through the mass of people dressed up and my mouth fell open.

"Hi, guys," a familiar, skanky voice drawled.

First Jane, now Lauren? Someone was out to get me.


	16. Please Let Me Slap You

**Sorry for being so unupdateable! Yeah, that's my own word. Nobody steal it. I got 11 reviews for Chapter 15. Shall we aim for 16 reviews?**

**First, this chapter is going to be racier than the others. Well, no lemons or anything, but I'm trying to make Edward more realistic, and I needed to ask someone about seventeen year old boys, and hell, who better to ask than a seventeen year old boy himself? And turns out this guy thinks about his girlfriend naked fifty percent of the time. Gross. So hope you enjoy the rare Edward POV chapters in here, the first one beginning HERE.**

_Please Let Me Slap You  
(if you read the AN you know whose POV this is)  
Saturday_

I could sense Bella tightening her jaw. It was pointless to state that Bella really did not like Lauren _or _Jane. I could practically feel the fury rolling off her in waves. It was affecting me as well, and I felt my muscles tense in return. Why were they here anyway? David wasn't a doctor, and as far as I knew Jane lived on her own. They were invited. I suddenly felt incredibly like the scene from Sleeping Beauty where Maleficent suddenly appeared out of nowhere during the reception for Aurora's birth. She wasn't wanted either.

"Maleficent," Bella muttered, echoing my thoughts. I blinked at her. Wow. Could she read minds or something?

"What was that?" Lauren asked, leaning over crudely to expose her-ew-nasty bosom. I felt Bella stiffen next to me and her eyes crinkled in disgust.

"You know, Lauren, if I wanted to see your body I would ask," Bella said, very pointedly. I resisted a snicker.

Lauren sneered at her. "I'm not interested in showing you my body anyway. I'm more interested in showing _Edward_," she purred nastily, stroking the side of my arm. I cringed at her invasion of my personal space. Did this girl ever understand the concept of privacy? Or for that better, break ups? When it was over, it was over, for crying out loud!

"Ew, Lauren, that's disgusting," Bella said, the side of her mouth turning down in a grimace. Lauren looked at her haughtily before turning her eyes to Jane. I looked at Jane as well, noticing for the first time how much more elegant she looked compared to Lauren's disgustingly revealing clothes. The moment passed and I looked at Bella, the girl that had known me since a kid and always been there for me though I was an asshole most of the time. _She _looked casual, dressy and smart. I smiled at Bella. Sadly she didn't see it.

And anyway, Jane scared me to bits. She looked too much like Alice.

"What're you doing here?" I asked brusquely, my eyes flickering from Jane to Lauren and back to Jane. I tried to ignore the fact that my heart was pounding from Bella being half behind me and half squeezed into my side. I'm a guy. I do have feelings.

"Well," Lauren said, smiling at me. "Jane here was invited by a doctor, and she was allowed to bring someone along. Of course she thought of me first, right, Jane?"

I thought I caught a pained expression flicker on Jane's face. I started laughing and Bella prodded my side, her eyes questioning. I looked at her and kept on laughing. All three of them stared at me.

"Anyway," Jane said, interrupting my laughs. "Could you show me the way to the bathroom, please?"

I was sorely tempted to ask Bella to handle this-I did not want to be anywhere near the Alice clone. But if Esme saw me passing on my hosting duties to Bella she was going to murder me, and then Emmett would crucify me for being such a wimp, though he would never admit he was terrified of Jane too. I sighed. Bella pinched my side lightly.

"This way," I said through gritted teeth, hoping to God she wouldn't try to jump me like Lauren. I repressed a shudder at the memory. It was terrifying. I was scared out of my wits. And they say boys are the crazy rapists.

"So, why do you live alone?" I asked, still sounding constipated in an effort to make polite conversation. The silence was killing me.

Jane looked thoughtful for a moment. "My parents died when I was six. I was cast out on the streets till ten, where I met Alec. After a few months we found out we were fraternal twins and that he had been a street rat until he got hired to work as a babysitter. When we were twelve we got adopted and moved to Italy."

"So you haven't always lived in Italy?" I asked, curious in spite of myself.

Jane shook her head. "I was born in London, but my parents moved us to New York. I only have the accent because I lived in Italy so long and because well, honestly, I kinda liked it." She grinned cheekily at that, and I couldn't help but laugh in return. I was starting to wonder why Bella hated her so much. Jane was pretty sweet.

"What about your brother? You said he was your twin, right? Why didn't he come to Forks with you?" I asked, hoping to God she wouldn't think I was prying. Apparently she didn't, because she smiled at me, and I was pleasantly surprised to see it was a nice, normal smile and not Lauren's I-wanna-eat-you-up smile.

"Well...Alec is different. He prefers to stay on his own. He doesn't really mingle much, but when he does it's like he has this ability to distract everyone. Once I saw him enter a roomful of girls, and it literally became silent. Even the guys suddenly shut up. I started laughing like a maniac, and nobody even noticed. He preferred to stay home because he doesn't really like moving around, and he's really attached to Italy."

"Can you speak Italian?" I asked curiously. Jane giggled-it sounded high-pitched, like Alice's.

"Yes," she answered, "but I prefer not to. Mainly because I sound ridiculous."

I started laughing, amused by this short Italian girl that looked menacing but wasn't. Dimly I registered minutes ago I was terrified of her, but in all truths, she was not that bad. I really had to stop judging people so quickly.

We had stopped in front of the glass bathroom by then. I gestured towards it and she smiled and waved at me before walking in and locking the door. I stared at the closed door for a moment, picturing Jane washing her hands, doing God knows what behind that door...I shook it off. I was hanging around with Emmett way too much. I turned and made my way down the hallway.

I emerged in the large living room where everyone was converging around the TV, a mass of black, white and blue staring intently at some news channel about a cure for cancer or something equally life changing. I rolled my eyes and looked around until I spotted Bella, standing by the buffet table cleaning up a spill. My heart skipped a beat.

_Good God, Edward, you're turning into a sissy._

Bella looked up and I approached her. "Hey," she said, smiling sweetly. I smiled back at her. If I was Bella, I would be blushing. Since I wasn't, I would have to settle for nervous idiocy.

"Hi," I said, licking my lips nervously. I could almost hear Emmett screaming at me mentally from across the room, telling me to go out and ask her out for a date. Jeez, that was how Emmett worked, not me!

"Bella? You want to go out? Get away from the oh-so-refined conversation?" I added, saying the last sentence with a very bad posh accent. I think I heard it in the movies.

Bella started giggling. "Of course, Edward, that would be delightful," she answered, the accent sounding much smoother than mine. I grinned and gestured towards the door. She looped her arm through mine and we walked out, ignoring Emmett's snickers from across the room.

"It's gorgeous," Bella murmured as we stepped out into the backyard. I held her closer to me. It was chilly outside, and mentally I cursed myself for not bringing a jacket for Bella. "It's okay, Edward. It isn't that cold anyway."

I stared at her quizzically and she lifted her shoulders daintily. "Edward, I've known you since I was a kid. I think I can tell what you're thinking by now. It's almost clairvoyance. I know what you're thinking."

I laughed out loud as we stepped over a perfectly round rock. She leant down, brushing her hands over the faint brown splatters on the rock with a bizarre dusting of neon pink. She giggled lightly. "We were six," she said softly. "Emmett was painting outside. The pink paint splattered all over and he tried covering it up with brown paint."

I grinned. "Alice almost killed him for wasting her paint," I added, twining her hand with mine. Bella smiled, already distracted by something else. She stopped beneath a tree, standing in the middle of nowhere in our backyard. It wasn't time for flowers yet, but the leaves were already a deep glossy green.

"Emmett and Jasper played a prank on me when we were five. We watched The Ring out of curiosity and they had me convinced this was the tree that showed in the video," she said, giggling. "Now I wonder how I ever fell for that. This tree doesn't even look scary."

"Well, in your defence, after the leaves fall off..."

Bella slapped my arm playfully. "Even then it doesn't look like 'the beast from hell'," she said, directly quoting Emmett's words from years earlier. I sniggered, poking her.

"Remember this?" I asked, stopping in front of an old tree, the bark peeling off but the leaves still a healthy green. Bella looked at the tree, then at the clear indentation halfway up the trunk from too many years of hammock string holding it together.

Her eyes teared up. "Of course I remember," she murmured, and turned to bury herself against me. I held on to her, loving the sense of completion when I held her so close to me.

"Shh," I comforted. "I'm here now. We're here now. We won't leave you again."

She smiled against the side of my neck and mumbled something I didn't catch that included the words 'like hell', 'kill', and the best one, 'revenge'. I smiled at her incoherent mumbling and looked at the tree where we, as the five Cullens and one Swan, had spent the night before Bella found out she was moving together as a family. Then I looked up at the sky, clear and calm, with the full moon shining clearly at me, almost conscendingly. It was peaceful and calm. I couldn't wish for anything better.

Little did I know this was the calm before the storm that was about to begin.

**Jane**

I looked out of the little window at the top of the wall. I had to search quite a bit before seeing them, huddled up against one another, in front of a ridiculously ancient tree. I rolled my eyes and hopped back down, my heels landing perfectly on the tiles. I rummaged around in my handbag before pulling out a small vial of miniscule white pills. Good things always come in small packages.

It was time to teach Edward Cullen a lesson on privacy. He messed up my plans, and now it was time for him to face the music for once.

I had to strike his most vulnerable point. And of course, it didn't matter if I gained him along the way as well. As much as I disliked his meddling, he did have a good figure. He would be perfect to get irritating friends and relatives off my back.

I had to aim for Isabella Swan.


	17. Staying Silent

**I've got a new one shot out called My Gypsy Fortuneteller. I really think it's the longest chapter I've ever done. Anyway, do go read and review it. Plus, I don't have a name for this chapter, so let's just call it 'Staying Silent'. **

**Staying Silent  
**_**Evil is obvious only in retrospect.  
-Gloria Steinem**_

I sidled out into the throng of polished snobs again, looking around for somebody, _anybody_, who didn't have a PHD and couldn't speak a full sentence without remarking about the economic crisis. Finally I found Esme, who was surveying the crowd with an unreadable expression, and thankfully walked up to her.

"Mrs Cullen, might you know where Bella is right now? I have a few books I thought she might want to have, since I don't really read that much," I said, throwing in a smile for good measure. Esme looked charmed off her feet. I rolled my eyes mentally.

"I'm sorry, dear, but I don't know where they are. I do believe she's with Edward, though. They're just so sweet together," she said fondly, and I smiled and nodded politely.

"I'm sure they are. If you see Bella, could you tell her I'm looking for her and that I'll be outside? Thanks," I added hurriedly, and made my escape. I couldn't stand Esme Cullen, she was just so..._smothering. _

I hurried to a window where I could see Edward and Bella begin to stroll in hand-in-hand. I whipped out the mobile phone I had wired to display the number of the police station and checked that it was still working. Two bars of battery. It would do. Then I grabbed a glass of something bubbling. It was brownish, so it shouldn't be anything alcoholic. Getting Edward inebriated might be fun to watch, but I had no idea of the effects of drugs with alcohol. Especially fizzy champagne.

I carefully slipped the Rohypnol into the glass after tasting it gingerly to ensure it wasn't alcoholic. I had heard of idiots that put GHB into vodka, thinking to rape some poor girl who immediately died afterwards. Some drugs just aren't meant to be used like that when they have 'death' listed as a side effect.

Besides, Rohypnol was so easy to find. Much easier than other date rape crap people used anyway.

I watched the white pill dissolve rapidly in the liquid, strangely captivated by the sight. Looking around quickly to check if anybody was watching, I shook the glass once to mix it up and peered out the window again. They were almost reaching the corner of the house. I walked further behind so that I could hear them when they came in. Turns out, I didn't really need to listen out that carefully.

"Eddie bear!" Emmett Cullen roared, charging through the kitchen and I think enveloping Edward in a huge bear hug. He said in what was supposed to be a furtive whisper but was still unbelievably loud, "You have to try the escargots. They taste great!"

"Um...Emmett? Do you know what escargots are?"

"Yeah! Squid, right?"

"No...That's calamari...escargot is snail."

Emmett pounded out and into the bathroom. Behind the door I heard him retch violently. I snickered, slinking to an unobtrusive corner to pull out my phone. Quickly I tapped in Edward's cell phone number and hit 'call'. From inside the kitchen I heard a muffled phone ring.

Edward excused himself to answer. I clicked 'menu', then scrolled downwards to hit 'play voice record'. I knew what the pre-programmed message would say-it was Chief Swan, asking to speak to Bella. I walked closer to them. Edward passed Bella the phone and quietly suggested she go somewhere quieter. She nodded and left. This was my cue.

"Hey, Edward," I greeted quietly, handing him the spiked drink. He smiled gratefully at me and took it. "You look tired," I remarked. I made sure I wasn't anywhere near touching him. From what I saw Edward was really disgusted by girls like Lauren-where was she, anyway? I scanned the room and found her by the drinks bowl guzzling what she probably thought was fruit punch. Hah. That brainless girl, no wonder she never managed to have a steady relationship. She was drinking martinis like there was no tomorrow.

"Jane," he answered softly. Keeping my eyes on him, I took a small sip out of my Diet Coke. Unconsciously he mimicked the gesture. He took a sip out of his glass, as tiny as mine. I allowed myself a small smile.

"Where's Bella?" I asked after a few minutes, as a test. He looked at me, smiling weirdly.

"Huh? Oh, she-she went out with her dad on the phone," Edward slurred, his head flying up to his head. "I have a huge headache. Jane, do you mind helping me out?"

I smiled. "Sure." And then I flew at him and attached his lips to mine.

Kissing him was...better than I expected. I mean, I already knew he would be a good kisser by the way he religiously put on lip balm every morning before school, but this was heaven. He sighed and moved closer to me, wrapping his arms around my waist. I tiptoed to make myself a bit taller. "Bella..." he murmured against my lips. I smiled. The Rohypnol must be really strong if he was that doped up after one sip.

I heard someone enter the room and gasp. That was cue number two.

Gasping, I took a half-step back while making sure my hips was still attached to his. His eyes flew open and he stared dopily at me, blurred confusion on his face. "What-I thought you liked me?" he asked, his voice a question as he opened his arms and dragged me back to him. Bella let out a sob and turned to fly out of the house as Edward started kissing my neck.

I disconnected myself from Edward and turned to mix into the crowd, not caring what he thought. He would faint in about two minutes and not remember anything when he woke up.

I jogged out the door and around the back, where I guessed Bella would be at. I slowed down when I was behind her, pausing for a fraction of a second to make her think I was upset. "Bella? I'm really, really, sorry, I didn't mean to do anything. I think he's drunk, he didn't mean it-"

Bella interrupted me. "No. I understand. I saw the way he was looking at you."

I waited three seconds before touching her shoulder lightly and turning to go inside. I slid my phone out from my omnipresent clutch and dialled Lauren. "Hello?"

"Lauren." I didn't bother with a greeting. "Are you in place?"

"Yes. I still don't understand why I have to go to that ridiculous event with you. I don't even have anything to do there anyway."

I sighed, walking one huge round around the house to enter via the front door. "You had to show Edward that you were at the party. It's called an alibi."

"I know what it's called," she snapped. I rolled my eyes. Bitch.

"Good. So you know why you have to reappear here again after you've done the deed." I bit my tongue to add another snarky comment to that and snapped the phone shut, hanging up on her.

**Lauren  
**_**Our envy of others devours us most of all.  
-Alexander Solzhenitsyn**_

I glared at the LG Ice Cream phone in my hand huffily before throwing it into the sequinned purse dangling on my arm. That bloody girl. Who did she think she was? First she insulted my intelligence, than she gave me orders like a dog. If she thought she was superior, she had another think coming.

I stared up the blank wall I was supposed to climb. God, why I hadn't decided just to call him was beyond me. I had no idea how to scale this stupid wall. There were no cracks, no vines, _nothing. _I sighed and stomped over to a side window. Fuck the Blacks and their silky smooth walls. I grabbed my numerous tissues and glued them to the window with lip balm to form a thick layer before using my elbow to smash in the window. The lip balm wasn't a very good glue, so a muffled shatter sounded.

Ignoring it, I smashed out the rest of the glass and crawled in, landing with a thump on the floor. I got up, looking around the room I had ungracefully landed in. The kitchen. Of course. I walked silently over to the hallway, not fearing the Blacks. They were at a social function that only ended...at...nine...

Shit! That was in five minutes.

I started mumbling curses under my breath as I fumbled in my purse for the notepad and box that held a single glossy rock. Apparently it was symbolic or something. Whatever.

"Crap!" I cursed, dropping the rock onto the floor with a loud clatter. I stared at it for a second before ignoring it and turning around and scribbling out a little note for Jacob Black.

_Jake-_

_Meet me tonight outside of the Cullen's. Please. Come ASAP. Edward cheated on me._

The writing wasn't mine. It was Bella's.

Headlights shone off the hallway from the driveway. I looked up, startled. "Shit! Dammit, I'm dead," I muttered, bending down hastily to pick up the rock and shove it on the side table on top of the note. I turned, and after making sure the note was secure, fled to the kitchen. I started to manipulate the slippery counter as a key rattled in the lock.

"Damn. Damn, damn, damn," I muttered as my foot caught in the pipes. And they were new shoes, too. I gritted my teeth and jumped out the window, managing not to tear my dress _or_ cut myself on the glass shards. I landed on all fours on the concrete and took off down the sidewalk, my purse swinging wildly as I ran.

I ducked around a glossy black car and crouched to wait. I didn't have to wait long. Jacob came flying out of his house, his wheelchair-ridden father yelling at him. He ran into his car and drove off. I sighed and let myself relax before dialling Jane's number. Phase one was done.


	18. Deeds Gone Wrong

**Deeds Gone Wrong  
**_**When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yield.  
Quintilian**_

I sighed silently, leaning against a wall with a glass in my hand. I didn't even know what was in it anymore. I hadn't taken a bite of anything after the packet of Rohypnol went missing.

My phone vibrated silently in my pouch once, twice, then three times before I picked it up and checking it. One missed call from Lauren. Phase one was done. I got up from the wall and brushed past the old geezer who had apparently been talking to me, not even caring if I was being rude.

I found Edward sitting down on the stairs in a drunken stupor. To anybody else he probably passed off as sleepy, but I knew better. I crouched next to him and without any delays, kissed him full on the mouth. He didn't put up much of a resistance and soon we were kissing like mad. Mentally I thanked myself he wasn't drunk and only drugged. I couldn't stand the taste of alcohol.

After a good five minutes of solid kissing I heard the door open. I had already strategized my position such that anybody entering the house wouldn't see me, just Edward. Of course if Edward had scooted over just a few inches the whole plan would be ruined, but I had managed to keep him from moving too much. I still think he thought I was Bella.

Two gasps at the same time sounded, one at the main entrance, and another from around it. I detached myself from Edward, ignoring his feeble protests. God, he was clingy. How Bella stood to be near him was beyond me. I grimaced lightly and peered around the side table blocking me to see Bella fleeing out the door, Jacob hot on her heels. I heard a clump and turned before groaning loudly. Edward had fainted.

"Wimp," I muttered under my breath, glaring at his limp body. I glanced around before realizing nobody could help me. Everybody was either conversing enthusiastically or drinking enough to give themselves liver complications. I glowered at nothing in particular and got up, brushing my hands before grabbing hold of his wrists and dragging him up the stairs.

Emmett appeared at the top of the stairs, looking down at me in amusement. "Did somebody drug him or something?" he asked, amused, as he made his way down the stairs. Oh, Emmett, you have no idea. I simply glared at him.

"Mind helping? I am quite a bit shorter, you know," I said irritably. Emmett simply laughed boisterously and bounded down the stairs, lifting Edward over his shoulder in a fireman's lift and prancing up the stairs in one swift motion. I stared after Emmett for a second before shaking my head and going down. Emmett should have been born a ballerina. It would make a lot more sense. Come to think of it, the whole damn Cullen family should have been born ballerinas.

I swiped a hand over my forehead and grimaced. Revenge was hard work.

_**Jacob  
Actions lie louder than words.  
Carolyn Wells**_

"Idiot. Moron. Stupid. Fathead. Stuck-up rich boy," I muttered angrily under my breath. _Keep repeating it, Jacob, maybe you'll feel better, _I thought dryly.

I kicked a rock aimlessly and it skidded off into the forest, missing Bella by inches. I narrowed my eyes and watched her figure slump on the fallen log in the backyard of the Cullens, deep enough into the forest that it her position was immediately noticeable. Actually, unless someone was hunting for her she blended perfectly into the darkness. Even then they would have difficulty locating her.

"Bella?" I asked quietly. The only answer I got was a stifled sob.

I sighed. I was going to kill Edward Cullen when I got the chance. First he got mad at Bella, now he cheated on her? He was too frigging much. I huffed softly like that Big Bad Wolf. I never did like that story. I always had a mental image of three carved up slices of honeyed ham. I didn't blame the wolf for wanting to eat them.

"Bells, I have to go," I said quietly. "I'll pick you up for school tomorrow, okay? I'm pretty sure you don't want to ride with that man whore."

Bella immediately got up. "Do you...do you think you could give me a ride home?" she asked, her voice breaking. "I don't want Edward to...to see me like this."

I bit back a snarky retort and just nodded, waiting for her to get up and wobble over to me.

_Edward Cullen is such a pig._

She made her way to my car. I followed behind; ready to catch her if she tripped, fell, or simply walked into a tree. She made it to my car without much problems and I got in, driving off in the direction of her house with the uneasy feeling that someone was watching me.

**Edward  
**_**I love drugs, but I hate hangovers, and the hatred of the hangover wins by a landslide every time.  
Margaret Cho**_

Someone was hitting me on the head with a hammer. Not only that, but he was hitting me hard and repeatedly.

"Ouch," I groaned, forcing my eyes open a millimetre. Something white popped in front of my eyes, and I moaned loudly before slamming my eyelids shut again. Somehow that movement hurt too.

"Edward, Edward, Edward," Emmett said in mock amusement. I squinted to see him perched on a rattan seat near my door. His features were blurred-I could only make out the silhouette. "Hasn't Carlisle taught you better than to drink? You're not even legal yet. Now, on the other hand, underage drinking sounds like something _I _would do."

I groaned softly as my head throbbed. "Kill me now," I begged.

"No can do," Emmett said cheerfully. "The Man gave me strict orders that murder is out of bounds, requested or not."

"How can you be so damn happy?" I demanded.

"Easy. I'm not the one drunk and with a hellish hangover."

I decided to ignore Emmett. It was safer for my head. "I'm not drunk."

Even with my eyes closed I could feel Emmett's incredulity. "Edward, you're in bed at noon on a school day. You have a massive headache, and you haven't moved for the past twelve hours. That sounds pretty drunk to me."

"I didn't drink," I repeated stubbornly. I knew I hadn't drunk anything alcoholic. "I mean, sure, I envy alcoholics, but I'm not so stupid as to drink, Emmett. If I did drink Carlisle would probably save my livers a job and kill me himself."

"You envy alcoholics?" Trust Emmett to pick up on that one.

"Sure. They have something to blame every time," I explained. "Pass me something cold and wet." I felt something heavy and cold land on my face with a painful slap and I picked it up with a grunt. I decided not to ask Emmett what it was.

Emmett paused. "Electricity is made of electrons. Can you see them?" he asked. I twitched open one eye.

"Emmett, nobody can see electrons."

Emmett flung a torch at me. It landed on my stomach. I stared at it, then at Emmett. "So?"

He grinned. "You're not drunk," he said happily. I rolled my eyes behind my eyelids. Trust Emmett to determine it like that.

"Emmett, people usually use breathalysers."

He shrugged. "Oh, well. This is Emmett style."

I sighed. "Okay, Emmett. Fine. Why aren't _you _in school?"

"Carlisle wanted me to stay with you in case something happened and Esme was called out. After all, I am the biggest and baddest. Oh, and Edward, Carlisle's furious. Either you got drunk or you were drugged. Either way you're in deep poop later."

I groaned loudly. It seemed to bring me satisfaction, considering it was the only thing that didn't make me feel like puking my guts out. "Thanks, Emmett. Thanks a lot."

I heard Emmett shift in his seat, grinning madly. "Sure, no problemo." Jeesh, did the guy not get sarcasm?

"Emmett, get the door!" Esme shrieked from below. Emmett huffed a huge sigh and clumped off. I sighed. Oh, for some peace and quiet. In the Cullen household? Who was I kidding?

I heard Emmett speak downstairs, and a response I didn't hear. God, these walls were thin.

"Edwardo!" Emmett screeched, sticking his head through the door. I stared lazily at him, feeling too tired to do anything. The headache had decreased a little, but I felt lethargic. "Jane's here."

I blinked, turning to look at the digital clock blinking faithfully. Oh. School had let out already. Had I really slept that long?

I noticed Emmett waiting for a response. Sighing, I rolled my eyes. "So? Let her in!" I said, slightly incredulous with the level of Emmett's weirdness. Was idiocy hereditary?

Emmett did the finger-point complete with sound effects and left. Minutes later I heard Jane's soft form enter the room, accompanied by a cloying scent of roses and lilac, and something earthy. It was nice, but I preferred Bella's light freesia scent. It was so much more to my taste. I shut my eyes, basking in the comfort it brought me.

I sighed-noticing suddenly I seemed to be doing that more often lately. I reopened my eyes, wincing at the bright light. Jane was hovering above me, smirking slightly.

"What?" I asked, self-conscious and irritated by that smug little smile on her face. She shrugged and I glowered at her. "Jane, I have a massive headache and completely no memory of what happened last night, so would you please say what it is you wanted to say and get out?" I guess I wasn't being very polite, but even I had a limit on my patience.

Jane shrugged again, and pulled out a large envelope before tossing it onto my bed, where it bounced awkwardly and landed on my chest. "Just thought you might want to know," she said before turning and walking off, her hair bouncing with each step she took. I watched her before turning my attention to the envelope.

Ripping it open, a bundle of photos fell out, glossy and slightly sticky from the freshly printed photos. I gingerly touched one, grimacing when the fresh ink came away on my finger. Gently I shunted them aside, freezing when I saw the first photo on top.

"No way," I whispered, shuffling through the photos, my movement becoming more urgent with each of the seemingly endless photos that passed.

Jacob and Bella hugging. Jacob and Bella with Bella's face buried in his sweater. Jacob's smug, bloody, bloody smug face smirking at Bella.

I picked up the photos and threw them across the room, yelling loudly into my pillow to muffle the scream.

**Jealousward is adorable. Anyway, sorry for the long pause, guys, because I had little scare with a high fever, flu and sore throat, and everyone knows what THAT is. Thank God it stopped after two days and turned out not to be H1N1. The next update should be in five days or so, since I'm having major writer's block. I think I'm going to Starbucks to write this time. I'm sick of writing like a crazy writer in my house. Anyway, as always reviews are loved!**


	19. New

**Disclaimer:** Jeez, can someone get a macrobot or something to type this out? I do not own Twilight. Done.

New

Bella

Thank God for Jake. He held me together the whole night as I sobbed into his arms, cursing bloody murder at Edward and Jane. He even cracked a few lame jokes that, while it didn't make me smile, was appreciated all the same. He even risked Charlie's wrath by sneaking into my room and comforting me to sleep.

Jake picked me up for school on Monday. The whole day I dreaded seeing Edward, but a quick run-in with Alice in the hallway confirmed that Edward was home nursing a horrible hangover with Emmett. It soothed my nervousness a little, but I knew Edward would reappear on Tuesday. I just didn't think he would have the nerve to actually pick me up for school.

Tuesday morning Jake picked me up for school again. I got up and waved at Charlie before running out of the house. Jake was sitting in his Volkswagen with his feet propped up on the dashboard, holding one hand up and out the window in a permanent obscene gesture directed at the silver Volvo behind him. He didn't even look behind.

"What the hell is he doing here?" I hissed, peering in the window. Jacob shrugged.

"Picking you up, I think. The nerve of that guy," Jacob said, almost disappointingly, as though Edward had failed him somehow. I rolled my eyes and chanced a quick glance at the Volvo.

Edward got out of his car and slammed the door angrily, storming over to me. "What the hell is he doing here?" Edward demanded. Jacob sniggered at his identical wording to mine and Edward glared at Jake. "Shut up, Jacob. You don't know anything," Edward said scathingly.

"Ooh, that's gotta hurt. Rich Boy is saying I don't know anything. Hard to believe, considering I'm your biggest rival in class," Jacob said sarcastically. "Other than you, of course," he added hastily to me. I rolled my eyes. Sometimes Jacob was so...Jacob.

Edward ignored Jacob and looked at me. "Why're you taking a ride from him?" he asked furiously.

"You tell me," I retorted. "God, Edward. You're really dense, aren't you?"

"I'm dense? You're the one all buddy with Indian boy here!"

"Watch it, Rich Boy," Jacob hissed. "I prefer the term Native American."

Edward flipped Jacob off and stared at me. "Fine. Go ahead and slum around, see if I care."

He stalked off to his car, leaving me standing next to Jacob's yellow Bug openmouthed. _He _was the one who made out with Jane! Why was I to blame?!

Jacob glared at the retreating Volvo, mumbling all sorts of foul words under his breath as he went over to me and slung one arm over my shoulder, gently steering me inside his car. "Don't worry about him, Bells. He's an asshole that can just go piss off," Jacob said darkly.

"I know," I answered unhappily. "But it doesn't change the fact that I'm feeling completely hurt."

"What, that he's an ass? Bella, get real. He's always been one, and always will be," Jacob retorted, taking his arm off my shoulder and gunning the engine.

I glared at him. "And why does it seem awfully coincidental that a certain someone in my presence is also known for being a hateful jerk?"

"Fine," Jacob muttered.

I bit my lip and sighed. It was going to be a long day.

.xXx.

Edward ignored me. All the time. For the whole day.

The rest of the Cullens, however, treated me as per normal. Alice was her usual bubbly self, Jasper was reserved and kind, Rosalie was cool, and Emmett was...Emmett. Devouring hot dogs by the dozen and cracking dirty jokes.

Edward didn't appear to lunch, and I could only assume he was hanging out in his car listening to depressing music. Alice dragged me to lunch, babbling about how drooly the latest Dior collection was. Yes, she said _drooly. _

I plopped myself down in my usual seat, feeling more than aware of the empty seat next to me where Edward would be at. I suddenly felt extremely weary.

Emmett rolled his eyes at me. "She never shuts up, huh?" he joked in easy familiarity, kicking me under the table gently. I giggled before watching in playful disgust as he scarfed down the hot dogs slathered in so much mustard it looked like a layer of paint. Rosalie huffed at him before engaging herself in conversation with Alice. Jasper turned and distracted Emmett with a remark about cars, which quickly turned into a brawl.

I felt horribly out of place.

Rosalie nudged me under the table with the point of her heels, and gave me a confused look. I shook my head and stared down at my plate, abandoned and untouched. It stung to think that I was as abandoned as the plate of food on the table.

I never did believe in all that hokey fate and destiny, but maybe Edward and I were really not meant to be. Maybe our horoscopes had something against one another.

I sighed, bit my lip, and the next thing I knew Alice and Rosalie were up and dragging me to the girls' bathroom, throwing words like 'girl problems' back at their boyfriends, who promptly shut up. I didn't struggle. It felt kinda nice to be dragged, like someone else was in control of my life for a change. I was so sick of having to make decisions.

"Bella? What's wrong?" Alice asked gently, her voice kind and soothing. I sniffed a little.

"Bella, fuck the formalities. What the hell is going on?" Rosalie demanded. I giggled. Leave it to Rose to be blunt. It was so outright it was hilarious.

Rose turned to Alice. "I think she's hysterical," she remarked.

"Maybe you should slap her," Alice suggested. I started giggling more, then laughing. Soon I was laughing so hard my sides hurt. Alice and Rose looked at each other and shrugged, unable to stop themselves from chuckling a little at my sudden hilarity. Soon we were having a good ol' giggly time when I stopped laughing, my humor dissapating quickly.

Then I started to bawl.

"Bella?!" Alice half-screamed, her tiny hands scrabbling quickly at me aimlessly. I sniffled, wiped my tears, and reopened the floodgates again.

"Oh, move it," Rosalie muttered, shoving Alice aside and patting my back with less aimless scrabbling and more comfort. Alice frowned and crouched under me, peering up from below.

"You _look _fine," Alice mumbled, jabbing my sides clinically. I yelped in response, suddenly irritated with the constant attention.

Huh. I must be PMSing.

"God, would you two stop _touching _me?" I snarled, yanking back from Alice's prodding fingers and stalking to the sink. I stared into the cloudy mirror, glaring at my distorted reflection. Even through the layers of dust I could see I looked like hell. I gritted my teeth, staring at my reflection hotly.

I was done with the denial crap. I had been used and thrown away by Edward Cullen like a Kleenex way too many times before, beginning from the day I left Forks.

I realized if this was the anger stage of the five stages of grief I still had a long way to go, but hell. Right now I didn't want to be weeping over Edward Cullen, I wanted to be punching him in the face, which was rather surprising considering my fairly non-violent history. I whirled around to face Alice and Rosalie, both of whom were eyeing me in skeptical worry.

With a twang I realized if I wanted to get away from Edward it meant getting away from his whole family. I licked my lips. This was going to be hard.

"I'm fine," I said quietly. "Please, would you guys just leave me alone? I kinda need some space right now."

Rosalie nodded and left promptly-I was grateful for that. Rose was never one for frivolities. She cut to the chase. Alice, however, was still looking at me with those damn puppy dog eyes. I gritted my teeth and stared coldly at her, wishing that she would just leave so I wouldn't have to get angry. It was Edward I was pissed at, not Alice or her family.

"Alice, please just leave," I muttered.

"Bella..."

"Damn it, Alice, please!" I snapped.

She recoiled as though I had slapped her and took a step backward, swallowing rapidly. I felt my knees weaken and my resolve waver, and I pushed it all back. I was sick and tired of being pissy Bella, able to be pushed around and bossed like a friggin' dog.

The hostile emotions were new to me, but I welcomed them. Much better than being a wimp.

Alice hesitated before nodding and walking out, no doubt to join Rosalie and start muttering half truths about me. I sighed and splashed water onto my face, taking comfort in the coldness of it.

I stared into the mirror, wiping off the cloudiness with one dripping hand. My reflection gazed back steadily at me, looking exactly identical and yet so different._ I _looked different, like a familiar stranger.

Who was I becoming?

**A/N: **Short chapter, very poor, but it's a pivotal moment that changes how Bella sees Edward from now on. On another note, I now have a blog for FF. The link can be found at my profile. It's the only place you'll get teasers at, mainly because I hate LiveJournal and LiveJournal hates me. It's a mutual understanding that we don't go near each other. Seriously.


	20. Rebel

Bella

I skipped lunch. I also skipped the period after that, Biology. And the period after that. And the period after that.

It had been the first time I had ditched so unfeelingly. I didn't feel one ounce of regret as I drove out of the school compound, ignoring the multiple eyes on my back. The school was too busy with the upcoming dance to bother themselves with one student's attendance record. And even if they did call Charlie, I didn't bother.

Before this I would have been wracked in so much guilt I could barely function. Now I didn't care. I was starting to like the new me.

I had no idea where I was driving to. Probably in circles, but then again when I escaped from school I hadn't been thinking about my destination. I was worrying more on what was going to happen if the school administration caught me. Now that I was out of school I felt a strange sense of relief and freedom, like a bird released from its cage.

For the next hour I drove around in circles before finally parking next to a trail. I hesitated and got out, turning my head to look at the sky. As if on cue, thunder rumbled. I smiled. I didn't like rain, not particularly, but when it rained nobody could see you cry.

I shut the door and rolled up the windows so that the rain wouldn't get into the truck. I preferred to drive in a warm, dry truck as opposed to a soaking cold one. Plus, Edward wouldn't approve.

_Huh. Edward wouldn't approve. _

How strange was it that now, every little second, Edward's voice was imprinted onto my mind, making little naggling noises on what I should do or what I shouldn't do? It had gotten to the point where even my dressing was influenced by that little nagging voice at the back of my head, telling me to put on that dark blue shirt because it was Edward's favourite colour on me.

I still loved Edward, so much that it hurt. Maybe that was the problem. I loved him too much. I needed some space to think about who _I _was. I had lost him once and never gotten over it. Edward had been in my heart my whole life. Maybe I needed some time to grow as me, as Bella.

_Dear Lord, _I thought as rain thrummed, growing louder and louder as it came closer. _Am I actually breaking up with Edward in my mind?_

The voice in me answered.

_No. We had been over a long time ago. _

Crap.

A tinkling broke my trance, and I jerked slightly. I looked around wildly, my confused mind thinking to horror movies where drowned girls with names that meant death would appear and scare the bejeezus out of me. It took me a moment to realize it was my phone ringing in the truck.

I grunted and stomped around to the passenger's side and getting in from there since the wind was blowing against me. I crawled over, muttering incoherently under my breath as I plonked myself down in the seat and rolled up the window hastily. I wasn't sure where to go to now.

I was abruptly reminded of the phone ringing when my seat vibrated violently, and I scrabbled around for a few seconds before retrieving the bulky, simple thing. I answered quickly. Whoever was on the other line had had a long wait.

_"Bella?"_

"Hi, Dad." I grimaced. Here came the explosion. He didn't bother with pleasantries.

_"Where were you today?"_

"School?"

I winced. I needed to improve on my lying.

_"Now, don't lie to me Bella. Alice called me."_

I mumbled various profanities at Alice before answering him. "Alice doesn't know what she's talking about."

_"I'm sure she doesn't. I want you home in ten minutes."_

"Yes, Dad."

I hung up, cursing silently. I wasn't really sure who I was angry at; myself or Alice. I was pretty sure it was a fair mixture of both.

I dawdled home, wanting to delay my inevitable confrontation with Charlie. I arrived home ten minutes earlier than I would have liked, and sighed as I walked in.

"Dad?"

Shoot, he was polishing his gun. This did not bode well.

"Bella," he began. "You know how I feel about skipping school."

_No, _I thought privately. _Because you never bothered sharing them with me, maybe?_

Instead of saying these thoughts like I wanted to, I looked down and meekly said, "Yes."

Crap, I was a horrible rebel.

Charlie sighed and rubbed his face wearily. "Come on, Bells. What's going on? I'm at work talking with the guys and suddenly I get a phone call from Alice Cullen, of all people, in hysterics and telling me you'd left school after fighting with her."

Alice was dead.

I struggled to breathe properly. "Dad. Alice doesn't know what she's talking about. You know Alice," I said, forcing a laugh and flippant hand wave. "She exaggerates _all _the time. It was nothing, really."

Charlie looked at me for one long minute before breaking out into an amused smile. "You're sure it was nothing?"

I sighed in relief. "Yes."

"Good," he said, grinning at me. "Then you're grounded. For two weeks."

I stared at him. Grounded? That wasn't so bad. Actually, it seemed quite pleasant, really. It wasn't like I had an army of socialites at my beck and call to parade around town.

"Also, you have to go to at least one sporting class of your choice until you master the sport."

"_What?" _

**A/N: **Please don't kill me! It was going to be longer, I swear, but then I got massive writer's block and...gah! *sniffs*

Also, do check out my profile for some information. ;)


	21. Goodbye

Okay, so here's the deal. I could go all emo and shit, or I could be postive about this. I choose to take the latter path, mainly because going emo will result in horrible consequences.

I'm not sure if many of you know, but I am leaving Fanfiction. This is partly due to the fuckery going on-thank the Literate Union for that-and also because I just cannot stand the utter shit FFn is becoming.

Okay. I'm disgusting myself.

I know you probably want an update-hell, you're probably screaming at me for giving up on my stories. I _will _continue these stories. If not tomorrow, next week. If not next week, next month. I'm not going to stop writing, mostly because I'll die if that happened. Meanwhile, I'll still be on fanfiction dot net. I'll be answering to Pms, reviews and whatnot. I just won't be writing, because I don't want the morons that run this site to pull down my stories permanently.

Worst case scenario, I'll be banned. If this happens, I'm going to return with a vengeance and wreck utter havoc on the fandom, simply because I can. Many fantastic stories have been pulled because of the no-smut rule, and honestly, petitioning to the staff of fanfiction dot net isn't going to work. You need to petition to the authors for that.

You can follow me on Twitter if I'm banned, or just watch out on Twilight blogs such as the Midnight Eclipse. If I'm banned, I'll announce my return on these two platforms.

In the meantime, you can check my profile every first of the month. I'll update it regularly on where I'm writing, and you can track my movement through there. Also, do visit my profile and my last contribution to the fandom-The Last Contribution. It might make you want to gouge your eyes out, though, so be prepared.

Here's to a good year ahead.

-Dee


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